Heavily armed tribesmen killed at least 16 people in India's northeastern state of Assam today in an attack on a village of a rival tribe, police said.
A group of Kuki tribals attacked a village dominated by Karbi tribals, killing 16 Karbis and leaving many wounded in Bokajan, 250 km south of Guwahati, the state's biggest city. Many huts were set ablaze.
"The attackers used both firearms and sharp weapons," a police official said by telephone from Bokajan, in the region of Karbi Anglong. "Some of the bodies have bullet marks and others are butchered."
The warring tribal groups have been battling each other over the past few years for control of land in the area, police said.
The attackers also set fire to many bamboo and straw huts in the village, police said.
India's northeast is comprised of seven states home to more than 200 tribal and ethnic groups, and has been racked by tribal and separatist unrest for decades.