Ethnic Violence Continues in Manipur: Three Killed in Latest Attack

Three people, including a 67-year-old woman, were killed in an attack on a Kuki village in Manipur's Kangpokpi district.

Khoken, a village near Imphal West, was attacked by alleged Meitei militants disguised in army and police uniforms, according to a villager and the Indigenous Tribal Leaders Forum. The police have no suspects at this time.

The Superintendent of Police, Kangpokpi, Manoj Prabhakar M, confirmed that operations are ongoing to identify the attackers.

The ethnic violence in Manipur is concentrated in Kangpokpi, which is mainly inhabited by the Kuki tribe, while Imphal West is dominated by Meiteis. Villages located at the border between the two areas have seen escalating violence since May 3. The conflict has resulted in over 100 fatalities, and over 35,000 have been forced to flee their homes.

Jangpao Touthang (35), Domkhohoi Haokip (67) and Khaimang Guite (57) were identified as the deceased in the latest violence. Ms. Haokip was killed at the local church while praying; her husband was an ex-serviceman.

According to a senior government official, security forces have been instructed not to conduct combing operations during late night or early hours in order to avoid escalating tension in an already volatile situation.

They emphasized the importance of winning the trust of the people and stated that any operations are only carried out during the day, not before 7am. Central forces have been deployed in the fringe areas between the communities rather than the local police.

57 weapons, 1,588 ammunition rounds, and 23 bombs were retrieved from several districts of Manipur in the last 24 hours, according to a senior government official. In the state, a total of 953 arms, 13,351 rounds, and 223 bombs of varying types have been collected so far.

Since May 3, over 4,000 arms have been stolen from police armouries.