(KUNA) -- High alert was sounded Saturday across Assam, a state in Northeast India, as the death toll in a series of attacks Friday and today by separatist groups in the state touched 42. "Security forces have been put on high alert across the state after the inhuman attacks on innocent people by militants," news agency Indo-Asian News Agency reported today quoting Assam Chief Minister Tarun Gogoi.As many as 42 people had been killed in 10 separate attacks in Assams Dibrugarh and Tinsukia districts since Friday night. While no rebel group has yet claimed responsibility for the attacks, authorities in Assam are blaming the outlawed United Liberation Front of Asom (ULFA) for the attacks, the news agency said. The ULFA, a rebel group, is fighting for an independent nation of Assam, carved out of India, since 1979.
The Assam authorities told the news agency: "The immediate provocation for the attacks was the killing of five senior ULFA leaders by counter-insurgency forces in separate shootouts in the past one week and the arrest of two of their frontline leaders in raids." Meanwhile, passengers of a train bound for Dibrugarh from New Delhi had a narrow escape when a powerful bomb planted underneath a bridge exploded, damaging a coach. The incident occurred near Diphu in eastern Assam Saturday, the news agency said.