Nagaon, Oct. 9: The latest spate of violence in Karbi Anglong threatened to turn into a full-blown ethnic conflict as assailants hacked five persons of Karbi and Nepalese origin to death in a remote village today. Five more bodies were also recovered from yesterday?s massacre site at Borsingh Bey village.

A rattled Dispur rushed additional security forces to the district, but there appeared to be no signs of any let-up to the tit-for-tat killings by the Karbi and Dimasa rebels.

Though the butchering at Longsoliet took place in the wee hours today, the incident came to light only this afternoon when a villager travelled nearly 15 km and arrived in Diphu to inform the police.

?We don?t have the full details yet. But the bodies are being brought here for post-mortem,? a Diphu police official said.

Even as the Longsoliet bloodbath was taking place, another village, Borsingh Bey, between Lumding and Diphu, was witnessing an orgy of violence. The police recovered five bodies from Borsingh Bey today, taking the death toll in the area to 12. Seven deaths had been confirmed last night. Among the dead was a father-son duo who were caught in the crossfire between militants and police.

Miscreants also continued to torch villages, burning down more than 120 houses since last night in Langsoliet, Borlangfar and Barakilo.

A Dimasa youth hostel in the heart of Diphu was also torched last night. The fire was doused by the local people with the help of the fire brigade before it could cause any major damage.

State home minister Rockybul Hussian said over telephone that additional security forces have been despatched to Karbi Anglong. ?The inspector-general of police (law and order) has also reached the district,? Hussain said. He added that during his visit to the district two days ago, he had issued strict instructions for adequate security in the sensitive areas.

The latest round of ethnic violence has left 28 dead, many injured and thousands homeless. During the past two days alone, more than 7,000 villagers have taken refuge in five relief camps set up in Diphu and Dhansiri.

The crisis started on September 26 with the murder of three Dimasa youths in a remote village, 22 km from Manja police station, allegedly by the Karbi outfit, the United People?s Democratic Solidarity (UPDS). The Dima Halom Daoga hit back within days, slaughtering eight Karbis and unleashing a spate of revenge killings by both groups.

The retribution continued despite a peace march by all leading political and non-political groups, led by Karbi apex organisation Somindar Karbi Amey, in Diphu on Friday. The Autonomous State Demand Committee also took out a peace rally yesterday.