GUWAHATI, Friday (AFP) A string of explosions rocked India's northeastern state of Assam for the second straight day Thursday, damaging several transmission towers and seriously wounding a civilian, officials said. A police spokesman said there were seven explosions in western Assam's Chirang district, most of them beneath power installations and one inside a village, which injured a man.

Police also defused two powerful bombs, one planted in a market in western Assam's Bongaigaon district and another in the state capital Guwahati.

On Wednesday militants triggered 14 explosions in different parts of the state. One policeman was killed and seven others wounded, and oil pipelines, power transmission towers and a telephone exchange were damaged. The outlawed United Liberation Front of Asom (ULFA) said the explosions were carried out in retaliation against the killing of three of their cadres by security forces earlier this week.

"The attacks are also to protest the Indian government's indifferent attitude towards our offer for peace talks," self-styled ULFA commander-in-chief Paresh Baruah told a local television channel in Guwahati. A police official said militants had also launched a grenade attack at a reserve police force camp in Guwahati on Thursday evening seriously injuring two security personnel. Assam Chief Minister Tarun Gogoi said the attacks were carried out by ULFA to demonstrate their strength ahead of the March 16 annual foundation day of the group's military wing.