GUWAHATI: A backlash by villagers against an armed group that had been repeatedly attacking their hamlets in Manipur's Kangpokpi district over the past 36 hours culminated early Wednesday in the state's worst bloodshed in a single clash since the ethnic conflict erupted on May 3 - nine deaths, 10 wounded, and at least five missing.The casualties occurred inside a church building in Aigejang village where gunmen suspected of mounting repeated raids on houses in Khamenlok, around 2km away, had gathered.The attacks included arson in which homes across three villages were gutted.Villagers from Khamenlok, where nine residents had been wounded in firing by armed intruders since Monday, and its neighbouring areas came with guns, spears, daggers, cleavers and other traditional weapons, sources said.

The mob surrounded the church building while some barged in and attacked those inside."Hostilities started with firing by one side around 10pm Tuesday, leading to retaliation and more violence that continued well into the early hours of Wednesday," Imphal East SP K Shivakanta Singh said in the state capital.The villagers' rage was primarily targeted at a 25-strong group that had been attacking and looting villages in Khamenlok and its vicinity since the start of the week, sources said.

Attackers from Myanmar: Imphal outfit It wasn't immediately clear if any or all of the victims and the wounded were those suspected of being behind the series of attacks on Khamenlok between Monday and late Tuesday.

Most of the dead, including a 32-year-old woman, and the wounded were young people from Leimakhong, Khurai, Pangei and Ningthemcha in the valley districts, officials said.Eight of the nine deceased were identified as Haobijam Somenkumar, Moirangthem Heman, Konjengbam Shankar, Telem Thoithoi, Laishram Naothoibi Devi, RK Prasanta, Yumnam Surjitkumar and Laishram Suresh.

One of the bodies sent to the Jawaharlal Nehru Institute of Medical Sciences hadn't been identified till late Wednesday.

Those wounded are being treated in a private hospital in Imphal.Aigejang village is under the jurisdiction of Sagolmang police station of Imphal East police district, although it is a part of the revenue district of Kangpokpi.On Monday, a 22-year-old man was killed and two others wounded when unidentified gunmen attacked two villages in Churachandpur district.The Imphal valley-based Coordinating Committee on Manipur Integrity issued a statement quoting a survivor of the backlash in Aigejang as saying that the attackers were "suspected to be Myanmar nationals and most probably PDF (People's Defence Force) cadres".

The statement also claimed that the victims were unarmed and having dinner when they were fatally assaulted.The administration reduced the duration of non-curfew hours in Imphal East and Imphal West districts to four hours (5am-9am) after having extended it to 13 hours (5am-6pm) during a lull in violence.

Curfew is in force in 11 of the 16 districts, while internet services remain suspended across the state.