Manipur: Four suspected Kuki militants killed in gunfight with security forces in Churachandpur

Four suspected members of the United Kuki National Army were killed on Tuesday morning in a gunfight with security personnel at Khanpi village in Manipur’s Churachandpur district, a senior police officer and an Indian Army officer told Scroll.

The United Kuki National Army is a Kuki armed group that is not a signatory to the Suspension of Operations agreement.

The agreement is a tripartite pact between the Union government, the Manipur government and two conglomerates of armed groups, the Kuki National Organisation and the United Peoples’ Front. The agreement had lapsed in February 2024 and was renewed on September 3.

Manipur has been embroiled in ethnic clashes between the Meiteis and Kuki-Zo-Hmar communities that have killed at least 260 persons and displaced more than 59,000 persons since May 2023. There were periodic upticks in violence in 2024.

President’s Rule was imposed in February after Chief Minister N Biren Singh resigned.

On Tuesday, an Assam Rifles officer said that during an intelligence-based operation, the suspected militants resorted to unprovoked firing at the Army in Khanpi, which led to a gunfight, The Indian Express reported.

The operation is still on and a search in the adjoining areas was underway.

Members of the United Kuki National Army have been previously linked to sporadic incidents of violence in Churachandpur district, the newspaper reported.

In late October, a village chief in...

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