Gunbattle Between Rebel Groups Kills 12 In India

Guwahati, India (AHN) - At least 12 rebels were killed and one wounded in a clash between rival groups in the country's northeastern Nagaland state on Friday, police said.

Rebels belonging to two factions - Khaplang and Muivah - of the National Socialist Council of Nagaland (NSCN) attacked each other with automatic weapons near Seithekhema, 12 miles from Dimapur, the commercial hub of the state.

Police said all the dead belonged to the Khaplang faction of the NSCN. It is the strongest separatist group in the northeast.

"The gun battle went on for four hours and the Khaplang faction suffered heavy casualties," Muivah faction spokesman Kraibo Chawang told the BBC. "Our fighters also snatched most of their weapons after beating back the attack."

On the other hand, a Khaplang faction spokesman, Kughalu Mulatonu, blamed the Muivah faction for provoking the attack.

All the NSCN groups are fighting for an independent Naga homeland comprising the Naga-inhabited areas in India's northeast. More than 25,000 people have been killed in Nagaland in the country's longest running insurgency since independence in 1947.