Jiribram: A new wave of violence in Manipur Jiribam district led to the killing of at least three people. At the same time, militants attacked Bishnupur by firing rockets, which resulted in the death of an old man and five members of his family. The violence has raised the ethnic tension in the region, which has already experienced the conflict between the Kuki and Meitei for over a year and a half.
This was what a security officer stationed in Manipur told me while suggesting that more people might die as events unfold. “The exchange of fire started this morning when the militants went into a village and shot dead a man and killed more people as fighting ensued,” said the officer; the violence being ethnically motivated, fatalities have been recorded from both the Kuki and Meitei groups.
The conflict has been rather violent in the recent five days owing to a fresh surge of violence in the region. On Friday night as well, after the killing which took place at Bishnupur, people tried to storm 2 Manipur Rifles and 7 Manipur rifles headquarters to decamp weapons. However, those security forces were able to contain the situation to prevent the looting attempts from going through.
The attack happened on Friday, which signified an increase in the scale of aggression, disturbing the use of rockets for the first time despite the conflict that has persisted for 17 months. It took six days after weaponized drones were used to launch this attack, authorities said. The Manipur police later corroborated that the Kuki militants had used ‘long-range rockets’ in the attack while the rockets were said to have measured at least four feet in length.
Fearing more violence, the Manipur administration has pulled out all the educational institutions shut on Saturday. The unrest, which began on 3 May last year, has escalated with the militants resorting to new ways such as flying drones and launching rockets, among other things, with conventional weapons such as rifles and grenades also being used.
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