Rebel attack in Assam

Police in Assam say a senior Indian army officer and at least 18 villagers were killed during the festival of Bhogali Bihu.

The army officer, Lieutenant-Colonel Anil Trikha, was on his way home after celebrating Bihu with Assamese friends when his car was fired on near, Guwahati.

The outlawed United Liberation Front of Assam, ULFA, said it carried out the attack.

Earlier sixteen people were killed in a Bodo rebel attack on a village Matangabara in central Assam.

Two more died later in hospital.

From the newsroom of the BBC World Service