New Delhi - At least 14 people were killed and 16 injured in a bomb blast suspected to be carried out by separatist militants in India's north-eastern state of Manipur on Tuesday, a news report said.

The bomb was planted on a motorcycle and exploded near the police commando barracks in Imphal, the state's main city, the IANS news agency reported.

Imphal police superintendent Radhe Shyam told the news agency that 11 people were killed on the scene, and three succumbed to injuries at the hospital.

Most of the victims were civilians, but some could be policemen.

Imphal, Oct 20 : Indigenous games and martial art forms are an integral part of Manipur''s culture that is well known through out the northeastern region. Some of the oldest art forms are still popular. Among them is Cheibi, an ancient martial art.

Recently, the All Manipur Cheibi Association of Manipur organized the 9th State Level Cheibi Championship 2008 at the Khuman Lampak Main indoor stadium of Imphal.

The championship, which was organized to further popularize and promote the martial art, had about 180 participants from 21 clubs of Manipur.

Imphal, Oct. 14 : Women in Manipur were recently out on the streets to protest against the atrocities committed by the militants.

They took out a torch rally in west Imphal last week against militant groups. The women condemned the underground groups as criminals who were operating in the guise of revolutionaries.

The protestors said that the worst sufferers of militants’ atrocities were women, as it is the women who suffer the most when the family’s breadwinner loses his life.

Imphal, Oct 14 : Educational institutions continue to be the target of militant organizations in Manipur. Despite several appeals by students and teachers to make education a ''free zone'', the ultras continue to disturb the functioning of premier educational institutes in the state. Recently, they targeted Dhana Manjuri College of Science in Imphal, and tried to extort a huge sum of money.

Imphal, Sept 27 : Militancy has affiliation to none. Their language is the language of violence for various reasons – political, religious or ideological. Manipur is a victim of such militancy. If Manipur Rural Bank is the victim of militancy so is the state''''s popular educational institution, Don Bosco School.

Extortion demand of the militants, served to the school and the threat to the lives of the teachers forced the school to close down for an indefinite period.

Imphal, Sep. 26 : It looks as if the militants in Manipur cannot differentiate between those who try to control them and the ones who are just devoted to the service of common man.

The recent victim of militants belonging to the banned outfit Kanglei Yawol Kanna Lup (KYKL) was Manipur''s rural bank. The militants forced the bank to close down for an indefinite period while making the hapless staff of the bank go for a sit in demonstration against widespread militant activities.

Manipur Rural Bank has 18 branches throughout the state. It works for the uplift of the rural masses.