Eight militants killed in Indian northeast

GUWAHATI: At least eight suspected separatists have been killed in shootouts with security forces in India's restive northeastern state of Manipur, police said Friday.

Five of the militants belonged to the Kangleipak Communist Party (KCP), a rebel group fighting for an independent homeland for the majority Metei community in Manipur, which borders Myanmar, a police spokesman said.

The KCP had claimed responsibility for a powerful explosion on Tuesday in the state capital Imphal in which 17 people were killed and more than 30 wounded.

Police did not reveal the identities of the other suspected militants killed on Thursday.

More than 19 militant groups are active in Manipur, a state of 2.4 million people in India's remote northeast region.

Nearly 10,000 people have died in insurgency-related violence in the state in the past two decades.