Manipur: Five Naga civilians killed in suspected militant attack

Five Naga civilians were killed and one injured after suspected Kuki armed groups allegedly attacked them along the Imphal-Tamei road in Manipur on Thursday, the police told Scroll.

The incident took place between Makui Ashang and Thanamba Naga areas in the Kangpokpi police station area.

Naga leader Wilubao Newmai alleged that armed Kuki militants had attacked the civilians.

Following the incident, the Naga People’s Organisation, a civil society group of the community, called for a shutdown in the headquarters of the Senapati district to protest the killings, Ukhrul Times reported.

This came less than two weeks after two Naga persons were killed in firing by suspected militants in Kangpokpi.

On August 14, a group of men armed with “sophisticated weapons” attacked Langka Naga village.

The Liangmai Naga Council-Manipur had condemned the attack and alleged that militants from the Kuki National Front (P) were behind it. The council had also announced an immediate shutdown of Liangmai Naga-inhabited areas of the state until further notice.

Tensions between the Kukis and the Nagas escalated in Manipur in February after an alleged assault involving members of the Tangkhul Naga and the Kuki-Zo communities in the Ukhrul district. At least 30 persons from the two communities have been killed since tensions erupted.

This followed the ethnic clashes that broke out in Manipur in May 2023 between the Meitei...

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