India: 30 Dead In Fresh Violence

Armed attackers forced villagers to huddle together, then set fire to their homes Friday, killing at least 30 people in one of several attacks during widespread religious clashes between Hindus and Muslims in Gujarat state, authorities said.

The attack took place in Pandarvada village, 30 miles from Godhra, the town where a Muslim fire attack on a train that killed 58 people, mostly Hindus, set off the religious strife on Wednesday.

The religion of the attackers and victims was not immediately known. Indian officials routinely withhold such information.

The village killings brought the death toll to 295 in the worst religious clashes in India in a decade.

The attackers came from the neighboring Kheda district to the village, where approximately 50 families live, said Jayanti Ravi, the district administrator.

"We know of 30 deaths so far, it could be higher than that," she said.

Religious tensions are running high across Gujarat and several parts of India after the train deaths, and a string of reprisal attacks by Hindus.

There were 14 children among the dead in the train fire and 42 were injured, with 20 requiring hospitalization for burns or smoke inhalation.

Police said 63 people had been arrested on charges of murder and attempted murder for the train attack in the small town of Godhra.