Police in India have arrested 22 people for helping separatist rebels accused of killing 29 Muslims in the worst outbreak of ethnic violence in the remote north-eastern region in two years.

Authorities called in the army to restore order in Assam state and imposed an indefinite curfew in the wake of the violence blamed on rebels from the Bodo tribe, who have long accused Muslim residents of sneaking into India illegally from neighbouring Bangladesh.

No fresh violence was reported today.

A state minister for border areas, Siddique Ahmed, said after visiting the violence-hit areas that his government and the ruling Congress party failed to protect the victims, who included at least eight children.

“Even two-year-old children who could barely walk have been shot dead. I have never witnessed such scenes in my life,” he told reporters.   »»» BelfastTelegraph.co.uk

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