Indian security personnel patrol the attack-hit area of the Balapara village in the northeastern Indian state of AssamReuters
More bodies have been discovered in India's north-eastern state of Assam, where tribal militants unleashed targeted attacks on Muslim settlers in the aftermath of the national elections.
With security forces finding nine more bodies from the communally sensitive district of Baksa district on Friday night, the toll has gone up to 32, local media reported.
Suspected tribal militants from the outlawed National Democratic Front of Bodoland (NDFB) stormed Muslim villages, opening indiscriminate fire on people, including women and children.
Late on Friday militants carrying AK-47 assault rifles killed 12 people in the remote villages of Narayanguri and Khagrabari near the Manas National Park in Baksa district.
The attackers burnt village houses made of bamboo and straw and threw the bodies of the victims into the fire, police said.
Earlier on Thursday, about 25 tribal rebels from the NDB had attacked Balapara village in Kokrajhar district, killing several people. In a separate attack in Baksa, three members of a family were shot dead by Bodo militants.
Shoot-at-sight orders have been issued in Baksa and Kokrajhar districts, where the worst violence took place, while curfew has been imposed in Chirang district. All these districts come under the Bodoland Territorial Administration Districts (BTAD).
Assam government officials said security reinforcements have been sent to the volatile districts and army flag marches are being held to restore order.
Various factions of the Bodo tribe have been fighting for more autonomy or secession from India. The Bodos accuse Muslim settlers, most of them illegal immigrants from neighbouring Bangladesh, of encroaching on their ancestral lands.
In 2012, a spate of attacks on Muslims by Bodo militants left more than 200 people dead and displaced more than 400,000 people.
The repercussions of the sectarian clashes were felt across the rest of the country, with people of north-eastern ethnicity being targeted in other parts of India in revenge attacks.
The latest burst of violence in the Bodo region, which has a troubling history of ethnic strife, is reportedly related to the ongoing elections.
"It seems the Bodos wanted to teach the Muslims a lesson for supporting an outsider," a state intelligence officer was quoted by Reuters as saying.
After polling in the Bodo region ended on 24 April tensions have prevailed as Bodos feared that the Muslims supported an external candidate.
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