Photo: Ac apam / Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 3.0
Violence between Kuki and Naga groups flared again in Manipur over Friday night and Saturday, leaving several people dead in Kamjong, Ukhrul and Kangpokpi districts. Officials confirmed at least five deaths in Kamjong and Ukhrul, while police officials put the toll across three districts over 24 hours at nine, including a woman and a Nepali citizen. At least 14 homes belonging to members of both communities were set on fire.
What triggered the violence
The latest round began in Kamjong district on Friday night. According to police, a team of civil police, India Reserve Battalion and Border Security Force personnel had gone to demolish illegal bunkers near Chassad police station when local women tried to stop the operation. Police said unidentified gunmen fired at the security forces, who returned fire.
A 42-year-old Kuki woman, Domkhonei Touthang, a mother of five, was hit in the crossfire and died on the spot. Her death set off an exchange of fire between armed groups that continued into Saturday morning. Houses were torched, and officials said an attempt was also made to set fire to the Chassad police station.
A Kuki women’s organisation alleged that a young man was also shot dead by cadres of an NSCN-IM faction. The district magistrate has imposed prohibitory orders within a 400-metre radius of the Chassad police station, barring gatherings of five or more people.
Attacks in other districts
In a separate incident in Kamjong, suspected militants opened fire in Ningchou, a Tangkhul Naga village near the Myanmar border, killing two men. Villagers said the attackers fled towards Myanmar. A senior police officer said armed groups from across the border might have been involved, but stressed that this had not been confirmed and an investigation was under way.
In Ukhrul district, a 40-year-old man, Sandeep Rai, was shot dead inside the vehicle he was driving near Chepu Yaolen. In Kangpokpi district, police said one Naga village volunteer was killed and two others were injured in an ambush on the Imphal-Tamenglong road early on Saturday. Heavy gunfire was also reported around Makui and Tapon villages.
A conflict on two fronts
Clashes between Kuki and Naga communities have killed more than 40 people since they broke out in February this year, with most of the violence in Ukhrul, Kamjong, Kangpokpi, Tamenglong and Noney districts, as well as parts of Senapati.
This is separate from the ethnic conflict between the Meitei and Kuki-Zo communities, which began in May 2023 and has claimed more than 260 lives and left thousands homeless. Security forces have been carrying out search operations and area domination exercises in vulnerable areas across the state.
