Unidentified gunmen shot dead two senior members of the Naga rebel group Nationalist Socialist Council of Nagalim-Isak-Muivah following a shootout in the Namsa area of Nagaland bordering Assam on Wednesday morning.

According to the police, the NSCN-IM rebels were taking shelter in a private house behind the police colony since Tuesday night. The identity of the group that attacked the NSCN-IM rebels has not yet been ascertained.

The police said the slain NSCN-IM cadres held the ranks of captain and lieutenant in the rebel group that is now in truce with India's security forces as part of an ongoing peace process.

The possibility of the involvement of the banned United Liberation Front of Asom has not been ruled out, given the outfit is at logger heads with the Naga rebel group.

On November 11, one ULFA militant was killed in a gun battle between a group of ULFA ultras and NSCN-IM rebels in Nagaland. The NSCN-IM had also abducted three ULFA cadres following the gun battle.