Five Dimasa tribals, including two women, were killed by suspected Karbis on Monday taking the total death toll to 19 since Saturday in ethnic violence hit Assam's Karbi Anglong district.
Over a hundred Karbi-speaking people, with 40 in army uniform and armed with sophisticated weapons, attacked Kheroni village at 7:00 AM.
They opened fire killing the five, District Deputy Commissioner Pankaj Sarma told PTI.
They also set ablaze 63 houses and two rice mills at the village, he said.
The attackers fled after the army, police and CRPF personnel patrolling nearby rushed to the spot. A report from North Cachar Hills said that over 500 people affected by violence in Karbi Anglong had taken shelter in the district.
Chief Minister Tarun Gogoi has appealed to both Karbis and Dimasas to maintain peace.
Gogoi said that additional police pickets would be set up in the affected areas to bring the situation under control.
Security forces alone, however, could not solve the problem, the chief minister added.
Eight Karbis were hacked to death and 150 houses set ablaze by Dimasas on Sunday, while six others, including a three-year old girl, were killed and over hundred houses of both Karbis and rival Dimasa tribes burnt down on Saturday.
