India, June 10 -- Fourteen Kuki civilians, held hostage for 27 days amid clashes between Naga and Kuki communities in Manipur, were released unconditionally on Tuesday, even as the whereabouts of six Naga men abducted during the same cycle of violence remain unknown, officials aware of the matter said.

The release follows weeks of negotiations involving church bodies, civil society groups and government authorities after retaliatory abductions triggered by the May 13 killing of three Kuki-Zo church leaders and a Naga man in Kangpokpi district. The release was facilitated by the United Naga Council (UNC), the apex Naga body in Manipur, and other civil society organisations.

The hostages were handed over by Naga Civil Society Organisation...