Patna, India, July 23, SPA -- Clashes among communist militants in arecently merged group left eight fighters dead in India'svolatile northeastern Bihar state, police said Saturday. Members of the outlawed Maoist Communist Center killedfour members of the rival People's War group Friday nightin Raghunathpur village in Aurangabad district, said SunilKumar Sinha, district police chief. The killings came in retaliation for a Thursday nightattack against four Maoist Communist Center members,allegedly at the hands of People's War fighters, Sinha was quoted as saying by The Associated Press. Earlier this year, the two groups merged to become theCommunist Party of India (Maoist), but their cadres havecontinued to clash with each other in Aurangabad, an MCCstronghold, he said. Aurangabad is located 80 kilometers(50 miles) west of Bihar's capital Patna. Caste clashes and violence involving communist rebelsoften takes place in Bihar, one of India's poorest and mostlawless states.--SPA1338 Local Time 1038 GMT www.spa.gov.sa/278586