IMPHAL, May 18 -- Security forces in Manipur have initiated operations to rescue hostages who have been held captive by respective Kuki and Naga groups, according to an official aware of the matter. "The rescue operation has already been initiated, and efforts are underway to find the hostages and for the safe rescue of civilians of both Kuki and Naga at the earliest," a senior security official requesting anonymity told HT. While there's no official confirmation, Kuki groups claim that 14 members from their community are being held captive by Naga groups, who maintain that six of their community have been held by the former. The United Naga Council (UNC), an apex Naga body, had claimed that six Naga civilians are still under the custody of Kuki armed groups as hostages. The hostage crisis began in the aftermath of the May 13 attack, in which four civilians, including three church leaders, were killed by unidentified miscreants in two separate incidents at Kangpokpi and Noney districts. Following the incident, over 38 individuals from both the Kuki and Naga communities were held captive by members of the opposite communities, according to state home minister Govindas Konthoujam. While 28 individuals (14 from each community) were released on May 15, the remaining are still held captive by their respective groups. Meanwhile, family members of 14 hostages belonging to "Taphou Kuki" appealed for safe release of their family members in good faith. More than 300 vehicles, mostly goods trucks and passenger buses have been stranded for the fifth consecutive day on Sunday along the National Highway 2 in Manipur's Senapati district due to the shutdown in Kangpokpi district, called by an apex Kuki body in protest of the killing of three church leaders on May 13 and the detention of Kuki civilians. The shutdown has disrupted vehicular movement along the Senapati and Kangpokpi districts sectors of NH 2. "More than 200 vehicles were stranded along the highway between Khongnem and Senapati town while another 100 between Mayangkhang and Tumuyon Khullen villages," a resident of Senapati town,60 km north of Imphal, said....