6 wounded in bomb attack in northeast India

Suspected separatist rebels exploded a bomb in a crowded market in India's restive northeast on Friday, wounding six people and destroying three shops, police said. Police suspect the United Liberation Front of Asom, or ULFA, as being responsible for the attack in Gauhati, the capital of Assam state, said S. N. Singh, a senior police officer. The insurgents tied the explosives to a motorcycle in a busy market in the heart of Gauhati, Singh said. Friday's attack came as the ULFA observed "Army Day" commemorating the launch of its military wing in 1980. Also Friday, Paresh Baruah, the ULFA commander in chief, said a sovereign and independent Assam was the only solution to the region's problems. "There can be no peace dialogue with the Indian government unless our core demand of sovereignty is included in the agenda," Baruah said in a message e-mailed to journalists in Gauhati.