At least 15 killed in attacks by villagers from neighbouring state of Nagaland as violence flares up in conflict over land

This article is more than 6 years old

This article is more than 6 years old

An estimated 10,000 people have fled their homes in north-east India as violence surged over a border dispute that has left at least 15 people dead.

Residents of remote Assam have sought shelter in makeshift camps set up by the state government after gunmen from neighbouring Nagaland launched attacks from across the border, a leading official said on Tuesday.

"About 10,000 people were rendered homeless after unidentified gunmen from the Nagaland side attacked Assam villagers and set ablaze hundreds of houses forcing them to flee," chief minister Tarun Gogoi told reporters in Assam's main city of Guwahati.

Gogoi held crisis talks with his Nagaland counterpart and national junior home minister Kiren Rijiju on Thursday over the violence which erupted between the villagers this month.

Clashes have erupted periodically between residents of villages straddling the two states over grabbing land along the border, since the creation of Nagaland in the 1960s.

Three people died when police fired on hundreds demonstrating on Wednesday in Assam's Golaghat district against perceived government inaction over the violence.

"A violent mob numbering about 4,000 armed with crude implements were on a rampage," Assam police chief Khagen Sharma said.

"To control we first resorted to baton charge, tear gas shelling, and finally opened fire in which three people were killed," he told reporters, adding that about a dozen others were injured.

The initial violence started on August 12 when the Nagaland villagers allegedly attacked the Assamese who retaliated, with clashes leaving at least 12 people dead, an Assamese students' group said.

"We have confirmed reports of 12 deaths so far in the August 12 incident and have their names and other details although the government is putting the death toll at nine," Monowar Hussain, leader of the All Assam Students' Union, told AFP.