Policemen die in 'rebel' attack

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Four policemen have been killed in an attack by separatist rebels in India's north-eastern state of Assam.

Assam police official LR Bishnoi told the BBC at least two other policemen were seriously injured in the attack.

He said the rebels fled with the weapons of the dead policemen after the attack in North Cachar on Sunday.

A little known and relatively new rebel group, Karbi Longri North Cachar National Liberation Front, has claimed responsibility for the attack.

This group says it is fighting for a separate homeland for the Karbi tribes people in Assam.

Police said the group carried out a second attack in the same area on early Monday morning, killing two people.

Assam is home to nearly 10 armed rebel groups, some separatist, others fighting for greater autonomy.

Some of these groups have come to settlements with the government, others are negotiating and a few others are fighting.

Independent homeland

The separatist United Liberation Front of Assam or the Ulfa is the most active and the most violent - it has been responsible for a series of bomb explosions and attacks on Hindi speaking migrants since the beginning of the year.

Nearly 100 people have died in these attacks .

Ulfa is fighting one of India's longest-running insurgencies to establish an independent homeland in Assam.

The rebels accuse New Delhi of exploiting the state's natural resources while neglecting its people, who are ethnically closer to the people of Burma and China than to the rest of India.