GUWAHATI: Suspected tribal separatists killed at least 33 people, including women and children, in India’s northeastern state of Assam on Tuesday, police said.

Police suspect militants of the National Democratic Front of Bodoland (NDFB) were behind four attacks that took place on Tuesday within the space of an hour. The group is fighting for a separate homeland for indigenous Bodo tribesmen.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi said in a Twitter post that the killings of innocent people were an act of cowardice.

Villagers who fled the carnage told police that the rebels came on foot, armed with assault rifles and wearing military uniforms. They forced open the doors of their thatched huts and opened fire.

Some people were pulled out of their houses and shot at point-blank range. In one village in Sonipur district, 21 people were killed. “They didn’t even spare women and children,” said a police officer, adding there were at least 10 women among the dead.

Police inspector general S. N. Singh told reporters in the main city, Guwahati, that additional forces were being sent in to hunt down the militants. He said villagers at risk will be evacuated to safer places.

The Bodo group had last struck in May, killing dozens of Muslim settlers and prompting a heavier police presence in Muslim neighborhoods. But on Tuesday they struck at settlers more broadly.