GUWAHATI, India, Dec 16 (bdnews24.com/Reuters) - Seven civilians, including five women, were killed when the bus in which they were travelling hit a landmine in northeast India's Manipur state on Sunday, police said.

The blast took place near a military camp at Lamlai, about 15 km (10 miles) east of the state capital, Imphal.

More than two dozen people were wounded in the explosion, and many were in critical condition.

Three died instantly and the other four later in hospital.

"The militants must have placed the landmine targeting army vehicles, but the civilian bus went over it," a senior intelligence officer in Imphal told Reuters by telephone.

More than 20,000 people been killed in militancy-related violence over four decades in the tiny state bordering Myanmar as rebel groups fight for a range of causes from political independence to autonomy and tribal rights.

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