3 killed in fresh violence in India's Manipur

NEW DELHI, Aug. 18 (Xinhua) -- Three members of the Kuki community were killed by gunmen Friday in India's northeastern state of Manipur, police said.

The men were gunned down during the wee hours at Thowai Kuki village in Ukhrul district, about 33 km northeast of Imphal, the capital city of Manipur.

"A group of armed miscreants approached the village from the hills located to the east of the village and started firing at village guards. Three people from the village have been killed in the incident," a senior police official in Ukhrul, Ningshem Vashum, was quoted by local media as saying.

The slain men were voluntarily guarding the village.

Following the killings, government forces were rushed to the village to nab the assailants.

The ongoing violence due to the ethnic clashes between the majority Meitei group and the tribal Kuki minority has so far killed over 150 people in the state. The mobs have been resorting to vandalism and arson, during which hundreds of houses and shops were gutted.