The violence is the latest in a simmering conflict that broke out in Manipur in May 2023, between the predominantly Hindu Meitei majority and the mainly Christian Kuki community.

One officer was wounded as they “repulsed an attack on a police station”, Krishna Kumar, deputy commissioner of the state’s Jiribam district told AFP, adding that “10 bodies of miscreants have been recovered so far”.

Kuldip Singh, the security adviser to the Manipur government, reported a “heavy” firefight lasting around 45 minutes, saying weapons seized from the dead attackers include assault rifles and rocket-propelled grenades.

Troops have been sent to the area to reinforce the security forces.

“Operations continue….to flush out armed militants”, Singh said.

A Kuki community group, the Kuki-Zo Council, said 11 members had been killed while condemning in the “strongest terms the violence” and calling for a “total shutdown” on Tuesday.

The violence comes after the burned corpse of a Kuki woman was found in the district last week, sparking fury.

Those killed come from the Hmar people, a smaller group within the Kuki.

At least 200 people have since been killed since the conflict began, and communities have splintered into rival groups across swaths of the state, which borders war-torn Myanmar.

After months of relative calm, an uptick in violence in September killed at least 11 people, including by insurgents reportedly firing rockets and dropping bombs with drones.

Long-standing tensions between the Meitei and Kuki communities revolve around competition for land and public jobs.

Rights activists have accused local leaders of exacerbating ethnic divisions for political gain.

Manipur is ruled by Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party.