Tribal separatists kill 16 people

Nearly a dozen armed tribal separatists have raided a village in India's remote north-east and killed 16 people after ordering them to line up.

The attackers set fire to nearly 20 houses in the predominantly non-tribal village before escaping.

Nine women and two children were among those killed in Jangalbari, a village in Darrang district.

Five people were wounded.

"The militants asked the villagers to come out, and when they did, the rebels lined them up and sprayed bullets from close range," police officer Sharda Prasad said.

Mr Prasad blamed the outlawed National Democratic Front of Bodoland for the massacre.

Sixteen people, all Bengali-speaking, died on the spot.

The five wounded villagers were hospitalised, he said. It was the second attack on non-tribals in Assam state within a week.

Last Wednesday, suspected NDFB militants killed 13 Bengali-speaking people in Daulangjar, a village in the western district of Bongaigaon.

Bengali-speaking residents accuse the militant group of trying to force them to leave the area so the Bodos can comprise a majority in the region.

The NDFB, which has fought for an independent Bodo homeland since 1986, is among a dozen separatist groups in the northeast which have asked people to boycott India's Republic Day celebrations on January 26.

In the past, separatist rebels in India's northeast have attacked government buildings, trains and oil pipelines ahead of national day celebrations, which commemorate the adoption of India's constitution in 1952.

Police said the NDFB attack could be a warning to the government not to sideline the group as it works for a peace accord with a rival group, the Bodo Liberation Tigers.

On Monday, the federal government suspended a ban on the BLT for six months.