GUWAHATI, India: Indian police battled with rampaging mobs on Sunday, killing four people, in a bid to contain clashes between Muslims and tribal groups in the northeast that have claimed 30 lives, officials said. Despite a curfew and shoot-on-sight orders, police struggled to quash the violence that erupted on Friday after Muslims allegedly attacked guards from the Bodo tribal group in an area of Assam state bordering Bhutan. At least 30 people have been killed since then, including 14 in police firing, and more than 100 injured, the state’s home ministry said on Sunday, as villagers attacked each other with machetes, spears and homemade guns.

“We have asked security forces to take all possible steps to stop the violence and help restore calm in the area,” Assam chief minister Tarun Gogoi said Sunday as the violence spread.On Sunday, police shot dead four armed rioters trying to torch a village in the Udalguri region, about 120 kilometres north of Assam’s main city Guwahati. Police and paramilitary troops opened fire in at least three separate locations in an attempt to stave off arson attacks, officials said.