Gunfight leaves over a dozen dead in India's restive Manipur state: police

At least 13 people have been killed in a gunfight between two unknown armed groups in India's restive Manipur state, a police official said, seven months after ethnic clashes in the border state killed at least 180 people.

Their bodies, with multiple bullet wounds, were found in a village in Manipur's Tengnoupal district where the official said on Monday a "massive" gunfight was reported.

The state has witnessed sporadic violence since the peak of ethnic clashes that erupted on May 3 between members of the majority Meitei ethnic group and minority Kuki community, reportedly over sharing government benefits and quotas.

"We are not in a position to immediately identify the dead bodies and cannot say which militant group they belong to," the senior official told Reuters by phone from state capital Imphal.