At least 10 tribal separatists were killed and several wounded in heavy fighting between two rival Naga groups in Manipur, a separatist leader said.
A rebel spokesman said the warring factions of the National Socialist Council of Nagalim (NSCN) have been locked in battles since Wednesday near Aijoram village in Tamenglong district, some 70 km southwest of the Manipur capital Imphal.
The NSCN is split into two factions - one led by guerrilla leader SS Khaplang and the other by Isak Chishi Swu and Thunigaleng Muivah.
"We have killed 10 cadres belonging to the Isak-Muivah group," NSCN (Khaplang faction) leader Kughalo Mulatonu told IANS by telephone from Nagaland's capital Kohima. "Heavy fighting is continuing on Thursday, and both sides are using small weapons." Police in Manipur have confirmed the attacks.
"We do not have the exact details but some confrontation appears to be going on in the area between the NSCN factions. Army columns have moved into the area," Manipur's additional police chief JC Dabas said.
The NSCN factions, both fighting for an independent Naga tribal homeland in Nagaland, are engaged in a bitter fight over territorial supremacy. Both groups have bases in adjoining Manipur. The NSCN (IM) has neither denied nor confirmed the attacks in Manipur.
"We are not aware of any such attacks in Manipur," an NSCN (IM) leader said from Nagaland. The two NSCN groups are operating a ceasefire with New Delhi although peace talks are yet to begin with the Khaplang group. Self-exiled NSCN leaders Isak and Muivah are currently in New Delhi for furthering the faction's peace talks and had met Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on Tuesday.
{{/usCountry}}"We are not aware of any such attacks in Manipur," an NSCN (IM) leader said from Nagaland. The two NSCN groups are operating a ceasefire with New Delhi although peace talks are yet to begin with the Khaplang group. Self-exiled NSCN leaders Isak and Muivah are currently in New Delhi for furthering the faction's peace talks and had met Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on Tuesday.
{{/usCountry}}"After Isak and Muivah gave a statement asking for unity by appealing to forgive and forget the past, we invited the rival commanders for talks to celebrate Christmas together," Mulatonu said. "Our invitation was taken in a negative manner and their cadres came and attacked our camps and that resulted in the gun battle," he added.
In the past five years at least 200 rebel fighters were killed in internecine war between the two NSCN factions in Nagaland. Meanwhile, an Indian army commander said hundreds of villagers residing in and around Aijoram had fled their homes since fighting broke out between the two groups.