May 17, 2008	Saturday	Jamadi-ul-Awwal 11, 1429

GUWAHATI, May 16: At least 12 tribal separatists were killed and one injured in a clash between rival groups in northeastern India’s Nagaland state on Friday, police said.

Militants belonging to two factions of the National Socialist Council of Nagaland (NSCN) attacked each other with automatic weapons near Seithekhema, 20 kilometres from Dimapur, the commercial hub of Nagaland.

“Clashes broke out between the Isak-Muivah (NSCN-IM) faction and the Unification group (NSCN-U) and continued for about four hours in which 12 militants were killed,” Liremo Lotha, Dimapur police chief said.

It was unclear what triggered the clash with Lotha saying competing claims on territory could have been the cause. At least 20 people have been killed in group clashes between the rival factions in the past month.

All the NSCN groups are fighting for an independent Naga homeland comprising the Naga inhabited areas in India’s northeast.—AFP