GUWAHATI, April 2 (AFP): Tribal rebels shot dead three paramilitary troopers and injured four others in an ambush on Saturday in Assam, police said.
Heavily armed militants belonging to the Karbi People?s Liberation Tigers attacked a convoy of the Central Reserve Police Force near Rongshuli village, east of Assam?s main city of Guwahati, police said.
“The police personnel were returning after visiting a polling station when they were ambushed by militants using automatic weapons,” senior police official A. Das told AFP.
The oil-and-tea-rich state of Assam holds elections this month.
Three troopers were killed on the spot and four suffered multiple injuries, Das said, adding the clash between police and militants was still underway.
The militant group is active in the hill district of Karbi Anglong and is demanding more autonomy for the Karbi tribes people in the region.
Four constituencies in the Karbi Anglong district go to the polls in the first phase of polling on April 4.
At least 10,000 people, mostly civilians, have died in Assam state because of fighting between government security forces and various rebel groups.
India has been wracked by rebel conflicts since its independence in 1947 with deadly insurgencies embedded in its northwestern Kashmir region and the northeast.
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