The NSCN-K insurgent outfit claimed responsibility for Thursday's ambush on an Indian Army convoy in Manipur in which at least 18 soldiers were killed.
In a statement issued to the media on Thursday evening, the NSCN-K said: "An elite strike unit of Naga Army, Kanglei Yawol Kanna Lup (KYKL) and the Kangleipak Communist Party (KCP) carried out the ambush today (Thursday)."
Eleven other soldiers were injured in the attack in Chandel district.
The National Socialist Council of Nagaland faction led by its chairman S.S. Khaplang had in March unilaterally decided to abrogate from the ceasefire with the central government that the outfit had entered into in 2001.
It has since then stepped up violence against the security forces.
