NEW DELHI, April 25 — Gun battles between rival ethnic groups in India’s troubled north-eastern Manipur state killed three men, police said, the latest unrest in the far-flung region.

Manipur has seen periodic clashes for nearly three years between the predominantly Hindu Meitei majority and the mainly Christian Kuki community in which more than 250 people have been killed.

“In a heavy exchange of fire... three individuals sustained fatal bullet injuries,” Manipur police said in a statement late yesterday.

The clashes took places at Mullam village in Ukhrul district, and police did not specify which community the men came from.

“Security measures have been enhanced in the area to prevent further escalation of violence,” police said.

“Operations are still underway.”

Longstanding enmity between the Meitei and Kuki communities revolves around competition for land and public jobs.

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

Unrest erupted in 2023, when around 60,000 people were forced to flee their homes, according to government figures.

Trouble eased, but earlier this month four people, including two children, were killed during an attack by a Kuki group, and a Meitei mob later stormed a paramilitary camp.

On Thursday, 249 Indians from the north-eastern states of Manipur and Mizoram — from the Bnei Menashe community who claim descent from one of the “lost tribes” of Israel — arrived in Tel Aviv.

They were the first group to arrive since the Israeli government decided in November to fund the immigration of around 6,000 members of the community.

Their oral history tells of a centuries-long exodus through Persia, Afghanistan, Tibet and China, all the while adhering to certain Jewish religious practices, such as circumcision.

In India, they were converted to Christianity by 19th-century missionaries. — AFP