Rebels bomb oil installation in India

Daily Times GUWAHATI: Separatists in India’s northeastern Assam state were suspected of carrying out an overnight bomb attack on an oil installation, officials said Wednesday, amid violence ahead of Republic Day.

“There was a big blast near a crude oil storage site although the damage was minimal, police chief of Sivasagar district BP Rabha told AFP. “It would have been devastating had the blast taken place near the huge oil tanks.” The facility belongs to India’s state-owned Oil and Natural Gas Corporation, the country’s largest company by market capitalisation. Police blamed the attack on militants of the outlawed United Liberation Front of Asom (ULFA), who are suspected of being behind at least 16 explosions since Friday that have killed three people and wounded 31, besides damaging six oil and gas installations and three power plants. afp