Kohima, May 16: A turf war between different factions of the NSCN killed 14 people on the outskirts of Dimapur, two of them civilians.

Around 5.30am, members of the Isak-Muivah faction waylaid a joint team of the NSCN (Khaplang) and the newly-floated NSCN (Unification), which was on a mission to raid their rival’s camp at Seithekema C village outside Dimapur.

A gun battle that erupted continued till 10am.

Residents of neighbourhoods several kilometres away woke up to the sound of heavy machine guns and artillery fire.

When the guns fell silent, a mob of hundreds of residents, tired of clashes between the different Naga groups, attacked the ceasefire monitoring cell of the NSCN (I-M) in the area and tried to set it ablaze.

The mob had broken a few windows when the rebels opened fire, killing two and injuring three.

Seithekema C is not far from the Vihokhu camps of the NSCN (U) and the NSCN (K), where several clashes had taken place in the past couple of weeks.

The only role police had today was of retrieving bodies from the site of the clash.

Angry residents blocked National Highway 39. Another group surrounded Wungram colony where most of the NSCN (I-M) leaders live. But the police prevented them from entering the colony. There were reports of gun battle in the area too. One civilian was injured in the crossfire.

The police said the situation in and around Dimapur was tense and there had been reports of intermittent firing from other parts of the town too.