Some of the worst violence has been in Udalguri district

At least 25 people have been killed in several days of violence in north-east India's Assam state, officials say.

Police opened fire to disperse rioting groups and killed 14 people, a state government spokesman said.

The clashes broke out on Friday between Bodo tribespeople and Muslim settlers from Bangladesh in Udalguri district, and have spread to nearby areas.

The groups have been fighting with bows and arrows, machetes and guns and several villages have been set on fire.

Long-running tension

Police have imposed a curfew and have orders to shoot rioters on sight.

On Sunday four people were killed when police shot into a group setting houses on fire in Dhola village in Darrang district said Assam state government spokesman, Dinesh Deka.

Police also opened fire at several groups on Friday, killing another 10 people.

There have been long-running tensions in Assam state between indigenous peoples and settlers.

Thousands of people have fled their homes in the latest wave of violence, seeking shelter in camps set up by the police.

"The picture is hazy and compilation of casualty figures has become difficult because of the continuing arson," said another state government spokesman, Himanta Biswa Sarma.

"We are mobilising all resources to control the situation."

Over the last two months, members of indigenous communities such as the Bodos have been targeting immigrant Muslims of Bengali descent, describing them as "illegal infiltrators" from Bangladesh, says the BBC's Subir Bhaumik in Calcutta.

The Muslim leaders say most of their people came to Assam before Bangladesh came into existence in 1971 and obtained Indian citizenship legally, adds our correspondent.



