Assam blasts: Seven feared dead

GUWAHATI: At least 11 serial bomb blasts in a time span of 15 minutes shook the main city of northeastern Assam state and three other towns on Thursday, killing at least seven people, police and hospital officials said.

The blasts took place at crowded market areas - Ganeshguri, Fancy Bazaar, Dispur Road and Pan Bazaar area.

Local television showed firefighters dousing charred wreckage of vehicles and plumes of smoke were shown rising from Guwahati, the state's main city.

No one has claimed responsibility as yet. In October, at least two people were killed and 100 injured in four bomb blasts that police blamed on Muslim militant groups based in neighbouring Bangladesh.

But the separatist United Liberation Front of Asom (ULFA), fighting for an independent homeland for the state's more than 26 million people, is often suspected of being behind attacks.