Curfew in north-east Indian town

An indefinite curfew is in force in the town of
Moreh in the north-east Indian state of Manipur, where 15 people died
in ethnic violence over the weekend.

Paramilitary soldiers have orders to shoot on sight anyone breaking the curfew to maintain law and order.

Moreh sits on a lucrative smuggling route on the Burma
border. Narcotics, arms and other contraband come into South Asia
through the town.

Local insurgent groups frequently fight with each other to control this trade.

The area is home to several ethnic groups, including the Nagas, the Kukis and the Manipuri Meiteis.

Shootings

Although clashes between other groups are quite common in the area, this is the first time Kukis and Meiteis have clashed.

Police say clashes erupted on Saturday when Kuki insurgents attacked an area dominated by Meiteis.

They lined up five young Meitei men and shot them.

Houses were set on fire in a free-for-all that broke out after the killings.

Meitei insurgents retaliated within an hour, broke into
some houses in a Kuki-dominated area of the town and shot dead four
Kukis.

Police said one more Meitei and a Kuki were later killed in the violence.

Police and paramilitary reinforcements were called in and a curfew declared in Moreh.

Security forces later shot dead four Kuki insurgents when they ran into a group of them near Moreh.

Manipur police chief Joykumar Singh went to Moreh to
supervise the deployment of security forces. He said the situation
there was under control but it was still very tense.

SOURCE - http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/6739785.stm