Imphal: At least six people have been killed and over a dozen houses torched by suspected Naga and Kuki militants in a fresh flare-up of violence involving the two communities in Manipur’s hill districts of Kangpoki, Kamjong and Ukhrul since Friday, sources in the security establishment told The Print.
However, till Saturday evening, there was no official confirmation from the Manipur Police on the exact number of casualties.
The epicentre of the flare-up was Chassad village in Kamjong, where suspected militants killed a 42-year-old Kuki woman Friday night. Though Kamjong is a Naga-majority district, Chassad village has a sizable Kuki population.
Following the woman’s death, tension started soaring as suspected armed groups on both sides started torching houses of the other community. In the ensuing violence, a 22-year-old man was killed Saturday morning in Chassad village.
The clashes between the two communities then reportedly spread to Kangpokpi, a Kuki-dominated district with pockets of Naga population. A senior official said a heavy exchange of fire took place between the security forces and armed groups in Tapon and Makui Ashang villages in Kangpokpi. Both the villages are Naga-dominated.
In a separate incident, a Nepali man was killed in Ukhrul district after suspected militants fired at his vehicle, a senior police official said.
Tension has also been reported in Tamenglong district, which is Naga-dominated, and Noney, which has a mixed Naga and Kuki population.
A senior security official said Saturday evening that the situation has more or less been brought under control, though there is tension between the two communities in the affected districts.
Three years and counting
Manipur has been reeling under ethnic conflict since 3 May 2023, when violence first broke out between two of the three dominant communities of the state–the Meiteis and the Kukis. There was a brief let-up in violence after President’s Rule was imposed in February last year following the resignation of then chief minister N.Biren Singh. But tensions picked up again after President’s rule ended this February and Yumnam Khemchand Singh was appointed the CM.
But this time around, the ethnic clashes shifted from Meiteis and Kukis to Kukis and Nagas. Over 300 people, across the three communities, have been killed in the violence since 2023, and more than 60,000 people have been displaced.
Edited by Sunanda Ranjan