India's eastern state of Assam was hit by a series of violent attacks
Monday that killed at least seven people and wounded dozens of others.
The attacks come just one day before Prime Minister Manmohan Singh's
planned visit to Assam to address a rally before India's general
elections begin later this month.
Two powerful bombs went off in Assam Monday; the first, near a crowded
market in the main city of Guahati. Hours later, a second bomb exploded
in Dhekiajuli, a town some 150 kilometers north of Guahati. Both bombs
killed at least seven people.
A third attack was reported Monday evening when grenades were thrown at a police station elsewhere in Assam.
Police blamed the violence on a militant group known as the United
Liberation Front of Assam, which observes its 30th anniversary on
Tuesday. The group has been waging a violent campaign for an
independent state for ethnic Assamese.
Separatist violence in northeastern India has killed about 20,000
people since 1979. The region also has been plagued by ethnic conflict
that authorities blame on Muslim extremists based in Bangladesh.
More on this by our Kolkata stringer Paramashish Ghosh Roy