Imphal (Manipur), April 24: Three people were killed and several injured-on Friday as fresh gunbattles between armed Naga and Kuki groups rocked Manipur’s Ukhrul district, with homes torched and both sides accusing each other of launching deadly pre-dawn raids.
Police recovered two bodies in camouflage attire near Mullam village after a heavy exchange of fire in the morning. The victims, identified as L. Sitlhou and P. Haolai, had bullet injuries. Several houses in the mountainous village were set on fire during the violence.
In a separate incident at Sinakeithei village, the Tangkhul Naga Long said Naga Village Guard Horshokmi Jamang, 29, was shot dead by armed Kuki militants. Four other Naga volunteers sustained serious injuries.
The Kuki Women Organisation for Human Rights alleged a “premeditated armed attack” by a Tangkhul Naga group on the Kuki villages of Mullam and Shongphal, claiming unarmed civilians were targeted while asleep. It said two houses were torched, women and children were injured, and two Kuki village volunteers died defending the community. The KWOHR claimed villagers with licensed hunting weapons repulsed the attackers and killed one assailant.
Denying the charge, the Naga Village Guard of Central Command said its patrol between Sinakeithei and Sirarakhong came under heavy fire from Kuki armed cadres under the Suspension of Operations pact. It said Jamang was killed on the spot, forcing volunteers to retaliate in self-defence before falling back to defensive positions.
Ukhrul, which borders Nagaland and Myanmar and is dominated by the Tangkhul Naga community, has seen sustained violence since February. The United Naga Council had already called for a total shutdown across all Naga-inhabited areas of Manipur from midnight April 19, protesting the April 18 killing of two Naga civilians, including a retired Army personnel, allegedly by suspected Kuki militants.
The Global Naga Forum condemned the latest killings along NH-2 in Ukhrul, blaming Kuki militants and alleging efforts to politically and geographically isolate the Tangkhul Nagas. It urged state and central authorities to move beyond troop deployment and initiate impartial mediation, while questioning the neutrality of security forces on the ground.
