Reuters, Thu August 14, 2003 04:55 PM ET
http://www.reuters.com/newsArticle.jhtml?type=worldNews&storyID=3280858
AGARTALA, India (Reuters) - Militants fighting Indian rule in the remote northeast
killed 34 people in bomb blasts and shootouts as the nation tightened security
on the eve of Independence Day celebrations, officials said on Thursday.
In two incidents in the volatile state of Tripura, armed militants fired indiscriminately,
killing 11 people in Kamal Nagar and 14 in Krishnapura village.
A remote-controlled bomb earlier went off just as a bus was crossing a bridge in neighboring Manipur, killing six passengers and wounding 13, a police spokeswoman said.
"The incident appears to be connected with Independence Day," she told Reuters from the state capital, Imphal, about eight kilometers (five miles) from the site of the attack.
"Unidentified tribal militants from either the All Tripura Tiger Force (ATTF) or the Nationalist Liberation Front of Tripura (NLFT) struck at Kamal Nagar and Krishnapura," Dev Kumar Singh, deputy superintendent of the Tripura police, told Reuters.
"The death toll has gone up to 25 from the two incidents and at least 19 others are injured," another police official said.
Tribal guerrillas in Tripura had killed three Bengali settlers in a market late on Wednesday, a police officer said.
The NLFT and the ATTF are outlawed rebel groups who are fighting for a separate homeland for tribal people. Both have called for a boycott of Friday's Independence Day celebrations.
Hundreds of thousands of soldiers, police and commandos are on high alert across India, including in the disputed region of Kashmir, to ward off militant strikes.
Kashmir's main separatist alliance, the All Parties Hurriyat (Freedom) Conference,
which seeks implementation of U.N. resolutions to determine the future of the
Himalayan territory, has called for a strike to protest against the ceremonies.
(Additional reporting by Maria Abraham in Bombay and Kamil Zaheer in Guwahati)