Troops go in as unrest grips India

Troops were today sent to the western Indian state of Gujarat, where 133 people have been killed in the worst unrest the country has seen in a decade.

The army has been sent in to halt the bloodshed, which began when a suspected Muslim mob set fire to a train carrying Hindu devotees in Godhra on Wednesday, burning alive 58 people, mostly women and children.

Muslims were burned alive as Hindu mobs sought revenge yesterday, killing as many as 60 people and destroying property. In the worst single incident, hundreds of rioters torched a Muslim housing complex in the state's main city Ahmedabad, burning alive at least 18 people, including many children and a former Congress party politician.

There were reports of sporadic violence overnight. Police have been issued orders to shoot on sight in some areas, curfews have been imposed.

Ahmedabad, and the focus of the violence, Godhra, were deserted today, the Muslim holy day.