INDIA: A powerful bomb exploded during an Independence Day parade in India's remote north-east yesterday, killing 16 people, mostly schoolchildren, and injuring more than 40 others, despite the country's Prime Minister promising to "fight terrorism forcefully".
Thirteen schoolchildren, who had been watching a ceremony to mark the end of British rule in India 57 years ago, were killed in the blast at the local college in Dhemaji in Assam state. The blast reportedly ripped through the crowd without warning.
"It was such a powerful blast that the bodies of the dead were in two or three pieces. It was a horrific tragedy," New Delhi TV's reporter Kishalay Bhattacharjee told viewers.
The outlawed United Liberation Front of Asom, which had warned people to stay away from celebrations, was suspected. The group has been fighting for an independent Assam since 1979.
After the bombing, witnesses say, the crowd took to the streets in Dhemaji. "The people started attacking the police and trying to burn government buildings. The crowd was angry because they said they had been promised protection if they came out to celebrate Independence Day," said Mr Bhattacharjee.
Earlier the Indian Prime Minister, Mr Manmohan Singh, said his government would take a tough stand against groups which opted for violence rather than seeking to resolve issues by talking to New Delhi.
"We will fight terrorism forcefully. Let there be no doubt about it. But if a group is ready to give up arms and talk to us, we are ready," Mr Singh said from the Red Fort, a tradition followed by each prime minister since Indian gained independence from Britain on August 15th, 1947.
The chief minister of Assam, Mr Tarun Gogoi, said the deaths may have been a result of a security failings, he said there appeared to have been lapses which he would punish.