JODHPUR, India (AFP) -- Police shot dead 14 protesters during clashes with an ethnic group in the northern Indian state of Rajasthan, police officials said Saturday.

Two police officers also died in the overnight disturbances in Bharatpur district, where activists of the group are demanding more government aid, local law enforcement officials said.
""The army has now been deployed in Bharatpur to bring the situation under control,"" Rajasthan home minister Gulab Chand Kataria said by telephone from provincial capital Jaipur.
Another dozen people were injured in the protests by thousands of people from the local Gujjar community, who want the government to classify them ""Scheduled Tribes"" entitled to government jobs and education benefits.
The Gujjars, traditionally shepherds who make up about five percent of Rajasthan's population, called off massive protests last year after the government promised to form a panel to study their case.
The panel rejected their demand to be included in the category but recommended the formation of another board to provide them special assistance.
The 2007 unrest claimed 28 lives.