6 killed in India's Manipur in drone, rocket attacks as ethnic violence rises

Suspected Kuki insurgents killed 6 people in India's Jiribam district of Manipur, says NDTV.

The attack happened at Nungchappi village in the district 229 km from the state capital Imphal, killing a 63-year-old man identified as Yurembam Kulendra Singha, says Indian police.

The attack came a day after an elderly man from the valley-dominant Meitei community, who was offering prayers, was killed in a rocket-propelled bomb attack by Kuki insurgents in Manipur's Moirang town, according to the police.

The five others were killed in a gunfight between armed groups of the Meitei community and the hill-dominant Kuki tribes, sources said. These groups call themselves "village defence volunteers".

The Jiribam Superintendent of Police (SP) and a police team rushed to the area, but were fired at, the police said in the statement, adding the team "retaliated strongly and controlled the firing."

In Imphal, the Inspector General of Police (Intelligence) K Kabib today told reporters, "... Yesterday, some Kuki militants attacked and fired at some fringe areas including Bishnupur and Churachandpur border. In response to that, combined teams of the security forces conducted combing operations. They have destroyed two bunkers which was previously occupied by militants. After that, there was a long-range rocket fire from the hills by Kuki militants at Moirang, in which one senior citizen was killed and six others were injured."

"Today morning, the Kuki militants attacked a village in Jiribam, killing a senior citizen. The militants kept firing and ran away. Some village volunteers retaliated, and when the Jiribam police reached the area, they were fired at, after which the police also fired back," Kabib said.

Jiribam is where Meitei and Hmar leaders met for peace talks last month, along with security forces commanders. They had given a joint statement agreeing to work for peace. Churachandpur-based Kuki groups, however, had objected to the peace talks, alleging the peace talk parties did not represent their interests and met only at Manipur Chief Minister N Biren Singh's bidding.

The Hmar Inpui, however, declared it would not recognise the peace initiative and warned the individuals who participated in the meeting to "stop their blind and selfish efforts". The Hmar Inpui had said these leaders appeared to be bowing to the "whims and fancies of a divisive and communal government under the leadership of Biren Singh..."

An anti-drone system has been deployed, the police said, nearly a week after suspected Kuki insurgents attacked villages in Imphal West district with weaponised drones - the first time suspected insurgents used drone attacks on Indian soil. ardour

The police said that in a multi-pronged approach, army helicopters are keeping an eye on the ground, while combing operations in "suspected areas" in both the hills and the valley are going on. A team is also monitoring social media posts to catch instigators of violence, the police said.

The security forces have destroyed several bunkers in the foothills, the police said.

On Friday evening, crowds tried to loot weapons from the 2nd and 7th Manipur Rifles camps in the state capital Imphal, but they were prevented from doing so by the security forces, who fired blank rounds and tear gas, the police said. Two policemen were injured in firing by some people from the crowd, the police said. The two injured personnel have been identified as inspector Kh Henery, and constable Issac Gangmei. Both are in hospital.

Protesters in Imphal valley told reporters they were disappointed with the state and the central government over the drone and rocket attacks, and civilians were left with no choice but to defend themselves.

"Who in their right mind would want to loot weapons? People are being killed in their homes, despite the presence of over 50,000 central force personnel. A Meitei woman was shot by a sniper. An elderly man was killed in a rocket attack," Imphal resident M Nirmala Devi, who came out to protest on Friday evening, told NDTV.