Manipur violence flares up, 15 hurt in attack by suspected Kuki ultras

New Delhi, June 3

At least 15 persons were injured in fresh violence that erupted in Manipur on Friday night after suspected Kuki militants, armed with sophisticated weapons and bombs, attacked two villages in Imphal West district, officials in the security establishment said.

They said state police and Manipur Rifles personnel stationed at two villages Phayeng and Kangchup Chingkhong retaliated, leading to an exchange of fire that lasted many hours. Attackers were later pushed back to nearby hills.

Attack in Bishnupur district too

• Suspected militants, armed with sophisticated weapons and bombs, attacked two villages Phayeng and Kangchup Chingkhong in Imphal West district of Manipur
• Two of the injured are stated to be in a critical condition
• Fresh attacks were witnessed in Pombikhok in Bishnupur district also, but no casualties or injuries were reported

The injured have been admitted to the Regional Institute of Medical Sciences and Raj Medicity in Imphal, where the condition of two is stated to be critical, the officials said.

Fresh attacks were witnessed in Pombikhok in Bishnupur district also, though no casualty or injury was reported. However, a team of the Manipur Police, Border Security Force and the Assam Rifles recovered seven bodies from the Sugnu-Serou area in Kakching district, the officials said.

The bodies have been deposited at a morgue, they said, adding the deceased had fallen victim to the gunfight that broke out at Sugnu last week after armed Kuki militants attacked the area.

At least 98 persons have died and 310 have sustained injuries in the ethnic violence that broke out in the state on May 3, the Manipur Government had said in a statement yesterday. A total of 37,450 persons are sheltered in 272 relief camps, it said.

Clashes first broke out on May 3 after ‘Tribal Solidarity March’ was organised in hill districts to protest against the Meitei community’s demand for Scheduled Tribe status.

Meiteis account for 53 per cent of Manipur’s population and live mostly in the Imphal valley. Tribal Nagas and Kukis constitute another 40 per cent of the population and reside in the hill districts.