Interstate bus services between Manipur and its neighbouring states resumed on Saturday after a gap of nine days.

The services had been affected by a blockade and a bandh on the Imphal-Guwahati National Highway 39, sources in the transport offices said.

At least four buses with passengers left Imphal for Guwahati in the morning and reports received at noon said the vehicles had crossed Mao Gate on the Manipur-Nagaland border.

However, it was not known till noon on Saturday whether buses from Guwahati would leave for Imphal in the evening or not. It would be known once the Guwahati-bound buses entered Assam after crossing Nagaland territory, the sources said.

Hundreds of passengers were still stranded in Guwahati and Imphal and it would take at least three to four days to transport them to their respective destinations, they said.

An indefinite economic blockade on National Highway 39 in Senapati district of Manipur was called by the All Naga Students Association, Manipur, from June 22 to protest the Manipur government's decision to declare a holiday on July 18 every year.

The Manipur government had decided to declare July 18 a holiday to observe the 'State Integrity Day" in remembrance of those killed in the June 2001 stir when the ceasefire between the Centre and the National Socialist Council of Nagaland - Isak-Muivah was extended to the state.

Naga student organisations in Manipur had also called a "lightning agitation and blockade" in Senapati district on July 8, cutting off Manipur from the rest of the country.

Since then, passengers in Imphal-bound buses from Assam and other states were stranded at Mao on the Manipur-Nagaland border.