Death toll hits 32 in India rebel violence

Police found nine more bodies Saturday after a deadly rampage by tribal separatists in India's remote northeastern Assam state, taking the death toll to 32 following two days of violence. The latest fighting in the area, a site of frequent ethnic clashes, began on Thursday with the killing of 11 Bengali-speaking Muslim villagers, followed by more bloodshed Friday when 12 others were slain. Police said it was not immediately known when the nine villagers whose bodies were recovered Saturday had been killed. "The death toll has gone up to 32," police inspector general S. N. Singh told AFP. "Security has been further tightened with police and paramilitary troopers deployed in strength." The nine bodies, including those of women and children, were recovered from Narayanguri village in Baksa district, 200 kilometres west of Assam's main city of Guwahati, according to AFP.