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Guerrillas kill six in Assam

GUWAHATI: Maoist guerrillas killed six people, including two policemen, in India's northeastern state of Assam in an ambush, police said on Monday.

"Last night the militants ambushed a vehicle carrying some policemen and five civilians at Sadiya, killing six of them on the spot," a police official told Reuters.

Sadiya is about 500 km east of Dispur, capital of the tea-and-oil rich state.

The police were escorting people to a police post when the guerrillas, armed with modern weapons, attacked them late on Sunday night.

The official said the separatist group, the United Liberation Front of Assam (ULFA), was involved in the incident.

Also on Sunday, guerrillas attacked the convoy of a state minister but no one was hurt. Late last month, a minister was killed in a bomb blast for which the ULFA claimed responsibility.

Formed in 1979, the ULFA is seeking an independent Assamese country for an estimated 25 million people. The separatists accuse the federal government of neglecting their economy and exploiting the region's natural resources.-Reuters