Diphu (Assam): After a four-day lull in hate killings, violence erupted in Assam afresh today (Nov 29, 2003) with six Karbis killed in firing and arson by Kuki militants in Karbi Anglong district, while sheds at a weekly market in Tinsukia district were put to the torch by unidentified persons.

At Karbi Anglong, the Kuki Revolutionary Army militants swooped down on two interior Karbi-inhabited villages, Rongkimi and Jelangso, at 04:30 hours (IST) and opened fire from sophisticated weapons and set ablaze 185 huts, the police said.

Six, including a woman and a three-year-old girl died in the firing and the arson, they said.

The 185 huts destroyed in the blaze belonged to 106 Karbi families in the two villages.

Reinforcements headed by senior police officials and the Army have rushed to the villages.

The attack by the KNA was one in a series that has been continuing since October. The KNA militants came over from Manipur about two to three years ago and have been trying to create discord between local Kukis inhabiting the Singhasan hill and Karbis with an eye to the lucrative ginger trade there.

A dozen sheds at a weekly market were also torched by unidentified arsonists at Bhilobai in Tinsukia district, which has borne the brunt of the anti-Bihari backlash, the Doomdooma police said.

Both Biharis and Assamese sold wares and cattle at the market, the sources said, adding it was not known who the arsonists were.

PTI