A group of gunmen armed with assault rifles entered a village inhabited by mostly Hindi-speaking migrants from other parts of India late Friday and opened fire, killing 11 people, said LR Bishnoi, a senior police officer in Assam state.

"They barged into two houses and opened fire at random," he said. The attack occurred in the village of Dolamora, some 155 miles east of Guwahati, Assam's capital.

Militants often target the migrants, who are resented as outsiders, representing the federal government in New Delhi 1,000 miles to the west.

The militants say New Delhi exploits the northeast's rich natural resources while doing little for the indigenous people, most of them ethnically closer to Burma and China than to the rest of India.

Police say militants have stepped up violence ahead of August 15 celebrations of India's independence from Britain. In the last week 23 people have been killed in attacks.

In a separate incident late Friday, militants threw a hand grenade from a moving car into a crowded market, killing a 2-year-old girl and wounding seven others, including the girl's mother, Bishnoi said.

Also, a bomb exploded in a market wounding 13 people, including two policemen, he said. Both of these incidents occurred in the Karbi district, some 308km southeast of Guwahati.

Police have blamed the recent attacks on the outlawed United Liberation Front of Asom and the Karbi Longri National Liberation Front.

The Ulfa has been fighting for an independent homeland since 1979, while the KLNLF, active in southern Assam, are fighting for more autonomy for the region's Karbi tribes. Police believe the groups have been acting together.

Peace talks between Ulfa and the government broke down in September after a six-week truce when both sides failed to meet conditions demanded by the other.

Ulfa responded with violence, killing more than 70 Hindi-speaking migrant workers across Assam.