Manipur: Three church leaders killed, 5 injured in ambush in Kangpokpi

Three church leaders were killed and five others were injured on Wednesday in Manipur after the vehicles in which they were travelling were ambushed as they returned from a meeting in Churachandpur to Kangpokpi, stated the Army.

While the apex body of the Kuki tribes, Kuki Inpi Manipur, alleged that the armed Naga group Zeliangrong United Front-Kamson faction was behind the attack, The Indian Express quoted an unidentified security official as saying that the involvement of militant outfits was being investigated.

The Kuki Inpi identified the dead as Reverend V Sitlhou, Reverend Kaigoulen and Pastor Paogoulen. They were part of the Thadou Baptist Association and were travelling back after a meeting of church leaders in Churachandpur, according to the newspaper.

The police said that the attack took place between the Kotjim and Kotlen areas in Kangpokpi.

Sitlhou had earlier served as the general secretary of the Manipur Baptist Convention. “He had recently initiated a reconciliation meeting between Kukis and Nagas in Kohima, because of the current tensions between the two communities,” Thangtinlen Haokip, a leader of the Kangpokpi-based Committee on Tribal Unity, was quoted as saying by The Indian Express.

Tensions between Kukis and Nagas in Ukhrul had erupted on February 7, when an alleged assault involving members of the Tangkhul Naga and the Kuki-Zo...

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