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GUWAHATI, India, Jan 8 (AFP) - At least four paramilitary soldiers were killed and five critically wounded in a powerful landmine explosion in India's restive northeastern state of Manipur, officials said Tuesday.

A police spokesman said militants of the outlawed Kanglei Yawol Kunna Lup (KYKL) led by factional leader Oken (eds: one name) ambushed a convoy of the Indian Reserve Battalion (IRB) on Monday near the village of Umathel, about 40 kilometers (25 miles) southeast of Manipur's capital Imphal.

"The KYKL militants hiding atop a hillock triggered off the powerful remote-controlled landmine killing four soldiers and seriously injuring five more," Manipur police chief A.A. Siddiqui told AFP by telephone from Imphal.

Siddiqui said the bulletproof van carrying the soldiers was ripped apart in the blast.

"About to five to six kilograms of explosives were used in the blast," the police chief said.

The IRB, a special counter-insurgency force, is deployed in parts of rebellion-torn northeastern states. The KYKL, fighting for an independent homeland, in a statement claimed responsibility for Monday's attack but regretted killing the IRB soldiers, who were all locals.

"Since local Manipuri soldiers were killed in the attack, the KYKL has issued a statement regretting the incident saying their target was not the local soldiers but the army," the police chief said.

There are at least 19 rebel groups active in Manipur, bordering Myanmar, with demands ranging from independence to greater autonomy and the right to self-determination.

More than 10,000 people have lost their lives to insurgency in Manipur during the past two decades. 

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