Police say at least 18 bombs have exploded across the northeastern Indian state of Assam, killing 20 people and injuring more than 100. An official at the police control room in Guwahati, the state capital, told the Associated Press (AP) news agency on Thursday that at least four of the explosions took place in the city itself.
Mrinal Talukdar, a local journalist, told Al Jazeera that the explosions happened within one hour. He said telephone lines were jammed across the region and that many areas had descended into "complete chaos and lawlessness".
An AP reporter on the site of one of the blasts reported seeing at least four bodies and dozens of injured people.
Local television showed images of firefighters dousing burned-out vehicles and plumes of smoke rising.
Many armed separatist groups are active in India's northeast, which is wedged between Bangladesh, Bhutan, China and Myanmar, with only a thin corridor connecting it to the rest of India.
No group has claimed responsibility so far, although Talukdar said the authorities had not ruled out that Islamic militants might be behind the attacks.
Source: Agencies
Publication time: 30 October 2008, 10:25
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