Suspected Maoist rebels have killed 16 people in an attack on a village in the eastern Indian state of Bihar.

A senior police official in the Khagaria district, 200km north of the regional capital Patna, told AFP on Friday that "more than 50 armed Maoists attacked the village and started killing people".

Ajay Pandey, a deputy superintendent of polilce, said that five children were among the dead. "The victims were sleeping in their houses".

The attack in Amausi Bharen village reportedly took place after farmers defied Naxal demands.

A journalist working for the private NDTV television station said land disputes and caste issues were also likely behind the attack.

The provincial government has sent two Special Task Force units to investigate, though acces to the remote area is difficult.

Bihar has seen a number of deadly Maoist attacks in the last couple of months.
 
On August 23, five policemen were killed and two others injured in an attack in Sono Bazar area of Bihar's Jamui district.

In the first half of 2009, 56 Maoist attacks have been reported.

The Maoists in India are also known as Naxals, given that the first armed uprising took place in a small village called Naxalbari in the neighbouring state of West Bengal some 40 years ago.