Guwahati: At least 34 insurgents of the Kh. Pambei faction of the militant United National Liberation Front (UNLF-P) entered Manipur from Myanmar at Saibol in Tengnoupal district and surrendered before the Assam Rifles with a huge cache of arms, ThePrint has learnt.
UNLF-P is an overground Meitei insurgent group led by Khundongbam Pambei. It is the breakaway faction of Manipur’s oldest armed insurgent group, the UNLF.
The Pambei faction had signed a peace pact with the Centre and the Manipur government last year.
However, a small group of active Pambei cadres was holding out at the Myothit camp in Myanmar’s Sagaing Region before it fell to the anti-coup forces this month, security sources told ThePrint. The rebels lived in the camp with the Myanmar army and it served as the group’s headquarters.
The sources added that the group that surrendered had been living close to other Valley-based Insurgent Groups (VBIG) and had been trying to infiltrate the Indian territory in the last few days.
Besides the UNLF and the People’s Liberation Army (PLA), the group of five other organisations also had camps in the area — People’s Revolutionary Party of Kangleipak (PREPAK) and its Progressive faction (PREPAK-Pro), UNLF (K) led by RK Achou Singh (alias Koireng), Kangleipak Communist Party (KCP) and Kanglei Yawol Kanna Lup (KYKL) — sources said.
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What happened in Myanmar
According to the sources, the VBIGs were staying close to each other in Myanmar’s Sagaing Region despite differences but were forced to retreat on 11 May after Myothit fell to the combined anti-coup forces that launched operations against the Myanmar military.
About 400 occupants were believed to be present at the Myothit camp during the attack. These included Myanmar Army soldiers, police, pro-military villagers called Pyu Saw Htee, cadres of the Myanmar insurgent group Shanni Nationalities Army (SNA), and the Meitei rebel outfits including the outlawed PLA, the UNLF-P and PREPAK.
The operations by the Kuki National Army (Burma) or KNA (B), and the People’s Defence Force (PDF-Tamu) from 7-11 May and under the supervision of the Kachin Independence Army (KIA) led to the surrender of at least 21 Myanmar Army supporters (18 SNA cadres and 3 Myanmar Police) at the Myothit camp, roughly about 16 km from Tamu township on the Indo-Myanmar border, sources told ThePrint.
The remaining Myanmar Army soldiers and allies, including all the VBIGs, fled for safety to the nearby Mintha (Mangshi) camp on 11 May, the sources added. The UNLF-P cadres later left the camp to escape to Manipur.
Meanwhile, the other Meitei insurgent groups have decided to move towards Hesin, an area east of Sagaing Region’s Tamu district, where they are likely to regroup with the Myanmar Army, the sources said.
UNLF-P surrenders with arms
According to security sources, the UNLF-P cadres first attempted to sneak into Indian territory on 13 May, but were forced to withdraw when they came across a PDF unit along the way.
The cadres finally managed to enter Thursday night, and surrendered with weapons to the Assam Rifles, the sources said.
One senior Manipur Police officer who didn’t want to be named told ThePrint that the armed cadres were brought to the Tengnoupal Police Station Friday and were shifted to a temporary camp at Yaithibi Loukol under Thoubal District.
According to the sources, the weapons that the rebels surrendered include three INSAS and 13 AK-47 assault rifles, one ‘Lathode gun’, two Light Machine Guns, an SLR, two M4 carbines and a Rocket-propelled grenade. The group had also allegedly brought along explosives like Chinese hand grenades, igniters and ammunition and optical eye-sighting devices.
They were also carrying cash amounting to almost Rs 4 lakh, which includes 31 Lakh Burmese Kyat (approximately 1.23 lakh INR) and Rs 2.66 lakh in Indian bank notes, the sources said.
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