Tensions increase when armed men infiltrate Manipur’s hills and start shooting at villages
In a worrying event, it was claimed that on Friday afternoon a group of armed men snuck out of Yaingangpokpi (YKPI) in Manipur’s Imphal East district and headed towards the hills. Officials have established that these people shot at the villages of Urangpat and Gwaltabi using automatic rifles, terrifying the locals.
Security forces moved quickly to deploy columns to the affected “vacant” villages to safeguard the safety of the locals and avoid any collateral harm. Officials claim that an unanticipated obstacle arose when a sizable gathering of women in the YKPI and Seijang regions blocked the entry of further columns, significantly aggravating the situation.
Following a traumatic event the day before, two soldiers were wounded when unidentified gunmen opened fire on them Thursday morning about 5 a.m. in the North Boljang neighbourhood of Imphal West district. An INSAS light machine gun and an INSAS rifle were found during the security forces’ following search operations, indicating the existence of weaponry in the vicinity.
Residents near Urangpat, north of YKPI, reported hearing automatic small weapons earlier on Wednesday about 5:45 pm, raising fears about the rising violence in the area.
More than 100 people have already died as a result of the continuing ethnic conflict between the Meitei and Kuki clans in Manipur, casting a pall over the state. After a ‘Tribal Solidarity March’ organised in the hill areas to oppose the Meitei community’s desire for Scheduled Tribe (ST) status, the fighting first broke out on May 3.
Meiteis make up around 53% of Manipur’s population and are mostly found in the Imphal Valley. The remaining 40% of the population is made up of Nagas and Kukis, two tribal groups that live in the hill regions.
