Eight killed in India bomb blast

At least eight people were killed in a bomb blast at a crowded village market in India's troubled northeastern Assam state today…

At least eight people were killed in a bomb blast at a crowded village market in India's troubled northeastern Assam state today, police said.

The separatist United Liberation Front of Asom (ULFA), fighting for an independent homeland for the state's more than 26 million people, was suspected to be behind the attack, according to police.

More than 45 people were wounded in the blast at Kumarikata, a small village near the border with Bhutan in Assam's Baska district, about 100 km (62 miles) west of the state capital, Dispur.

"Five people died on the spot and three died on way to hospital. Four others are in critical condition," a senior police officer said.

The toll could rise, police said, as they searched for more bodies and evacuated the injured to hospitals.

Police recovered another bomb from the market, he added.

The attack came nearly a week after six ULFA senior commanders decided to shun violence and declared a ceasefire.

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