Nighttime attacks in Assam

Assam state's regional government said on Friday it had sent police reinforcements to two districts where Muslim villagers were murdered on Thursday night.

Police blamed the attacks on the outlawed National Democratic Front of Bodoland (NDFB). Assam has a history of tensions between indigenous Bodo tribes and Muslim settlers affiliated with neighboring Bangladesh.

In one attack 8 villagers, including three children, were killed in Assam's remote district of Kokrajhar. Three others died during a second attack in the adjourning district of Baksa, police said.

Survivors in Kokrajhar said some 20 masked gunmen barged into homes and sprayed bullets using automatic weapons.

Siraj Ali told local television that he witnessed the killing of his elderly mother, wife and four-year-old daughter.

"I don't have anyone left in my family now," Ali said.

Attacks prompt 'exodus'

A local Muslim leader, Lafiqul Islam, said some villagers had reacted to the attacks by leaving the area in a "heavy exodus."

Assam's chief minister Tarun Gogoi said his administration was "taking all possible steps to control the situation."

Two years ago, the state government, led by India's ruling Congress party, was widely criticized for not acting quickly enough to stop fatal clashes between Bodo people and Muslim settlers.

At that time, more than 40,000 people fled their villages.

Modi warns migrants

The opposition front-runner in India's current parliamentary election, Hindu nationalist Narendra Modi, said last week that migrants from Bangladesh should have their "bags packed" in case he came to power.

Polling in the Bodo region ended on April 24, in what residents said was a tight race between a Bodo and a non-tribal candidate.

Results of India's election - being held in stages - are due on May 16.

ipj/hc (Reuters, AFP, dpa)