Sixty people have been killed in ethnic clashes in the north-eastern Indian state of Manipur with mobs attacking homes, vehicles, churches and temples, officials say.

N Biren Singh, the chief minister of Manipur, said in a press conference on Monday that more than 200 people were injured and tens of thousands displaced in the clashes.

The violence began last week after indigenous communities held a rally to protest against demands by the main ethnic group in the state for tribal status.

Members of the Meitei community, who account for 53% of the state's population, have been demanding inclusion under the Scheduled Tribe category for years which will give them access to forest lands and guarantee them a proportion of government jobs and places in educational institutions.

The communities already recognised as Scheduled Tribes, especially Kukis who live in the hill districts, worry that they may lose control over their ancestral forest land if the Meitei's demand is accepted.

On Monday, India's Home Minister Amit Shah told a news channel that the situation in Manipur was under control and appealed to the people to maintain peace. The Manipur government would consult all stakeholders before taking a decision on the matter, he said.

Thousands of troops have been deployed in the state to maintain order and a curfew is in place in several districts and internet access has been suspended. Last week, the state's governor issued "shoot-on-sight" orders in "extreme cases" to bring the situation under control.

India's Supreme Court has expressed concern over the violence and asked the state government to submit an updated report on relief and rehabilitation measures after a week.

Mr Singh said on Monday that more than 20,000 people "who were left stranded in relief camps" had been moved to safety. He said efforts were on to rescue another 10,000 people.

The evacuees include a large number of women and children.

Locals say they are worried about their future. "We don't feel safe right now," L Sanglun Simte, a resident of the state capital Imphal, told AFP news agency. The 29-year-old Kuki has been camping outside Imphal airport with 11 of his family members.

The army on Sunday said that there had been a lull in the fighting after soldiers worked "tirelessly for the past 96 hours to rescue civilians across all communities, curb violence and restore normalcy".

But the situation is still tense in several parts of the state.

While local residents remain in army shelters, other states have sent rescue teams to get their people out of Manipur.

Some states like Maharashtra and Andhra Pradesh have arranged special flights for the evacuees.

Mr Singh said that more than 1,000 guns had been looted from security personnel, of which around 200 had been recovered. He added that unless the weapons were returned to police stations, the state would launch an operation to recover them.

Violence began last Wednesday. Mobs vandalised vehicles and burned homes and shops in Imphal, and several other districts.

Video and photos showed buildings set on fire, with thick black smoke engulfing the streets.

The army says it is bringing the situation under control.

On Monday, people came out to buy food and medicines after curfews were relaxed for a few hours in the affected areas, news agency PTI reported.

All photos Getty Images

• ·Food price inflation dips for second month in a row
• ·Biden SNUBS Fox News interview - and will instead sit down with streaming service Fox Soul before the Super Bowl in break from White Ho utilize tradition 
• ·BREAKING NEWS: Marcelo Bielsa flies into London for Everton talks - but still needs convincing to take the job after concerns over their slow defence - as Toffees step up attempts to hire ex-Leeds boss 
• ·Partner of missing UK mom reveals his movements before she vanished
• ·'All I expect from this administration is another set of lies': Trump and Cruz lead Republicans blasting Biden after DOJ seizes SIX more classified documents from President's Delaware home 
• ·British woman is found dead along with Swedish man in a tourist acomponentment in Portugal, sparking police investigation 
• ·price increase records a shock RISE to 10.4% driven by surging food and drink costs as Jeremy Hunt warns falling prices are not 'inevitable' - with Bank of England now under huge pressure to hike interest rates tomorrow
• ·Classified documents found at former VP Mike Pence's home included briefing papers for foreign visits 
• ·Plane crashes into New Hampshire acomponentments killing everyone on board
• ·Stanford law Dean of Equity is ON LEAVE after stoking woke students' protest against conservative judge who'd been invited to give speech
• ·'My intention is to play for the New York Jets': Aaron Rodgers reveals he DOES want to leave Packers - and is waiting for the teams to finalize a trade
• ·Watch terrifying video from INSIDE American Airlines Boeing 737 that caught fire mid-air: Passengers capture moment engine bursts into flames and describe the 'clonk clonk clonk' noise after bird strike compeld an emergency landing 
• ·Two people have died and three others - including two children - are rushed to hospital following three-car horror smash in Pembrokeshire 
• ·BREAKING NEWS: Grizzlies agitator Dillon Brooks is fined $25,000 by the NBA for skipping out on media duties following Memphis's series defeat to the Lakers amid his Lebron James feud
• ·Ron DeSantis says he'll get Novak Djokovic on a BOAT from the Bahamas  to Florida if he has to consequently he can play in the Miami Open - and vows to stand up to Biden's 'ridiculous' vaccine rules
• ·Perth Scorchers WIN the Big Bash League after young gun Cooper Connolly kept his cool to blast his side to victory in dramatic final