GUWAHATI (AFP) - At least seven people were killed and 20 wounded in a powerful blast near a maternity hospital in the troubled northeastern Indian state of Assam Saturday, officials said.
The explosion took place shortly after 10:00 am in Assam's main city of Guwahati, a police spokesman said.
Police suspect a bomb was planted by rebels of the outlawed United Liberation Front of Asom (ULFA), a group fighting for an independent homeland since 1979, he said
An AFP photographer at the scene reported panic at the site of the blast, which is a hub of commercial activity in Guwahati city.
The victims were mainly men on their way to shops or offices located there, he said.
The ULFA was blamed for a string of attacks in January that killed 80 people in eastern Assam.