Mine Kills India State Minister, 4 Others; Rebels Take Credit
Separatist rebels killed a state government minister and four others with a remote-controlled land mine Sunday in Assam state, police said.
Six others were killed in gun battles with rebels in the remote northeastern state, authorities said.
The mine was triggered as Assam state Public Works Minister Nagen Sharma’s car reached a village in Nalbari district west of Guwahati, Assam’s capital.
Two police guards and two state government officials also in the car were killed instantly, one officer said.
The banned United Liberation Front of Assam, or ULFA, claimed responsibility in a faxed statement, the United News of India said. The group called the minister a “traitor” but regretted the death of the other four “innocent persons.”
The area is a stronghold for ULFA, which has been fighting for a separate homeland since 1979. More than 10,000 people have been killed in the fighting.
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