A woman from the Kuki community was reportedly killed and two others went missing following a gunfight between Kuki and Naga groups in Manipur’s Kamjong district on Thursday, police said, amid continuing tensions between the two communities.
Police officers said the incident occurred at around 4 pm in the jungle between Phaikoh and Mulvailup villages, close to the Indo-Myanmar border.
Local Kuki bodies claimed that Hatneikim Haokip (age could be confirmed) was killed during the crossfire, while her husband managed to escape unhurt. Two other Kuki-Zo civilians remain missing, they said.
Hatneikim Haokip and three others were reportedly travelling to purchase essential commodities for their families when the attack was allegedly launched by suspected members of the National Socialist Council of Nagaland-Isak Muivah (NSCN-IM), a Naga militant group.
However, the allegation could not be independently verified.
Five days ago, on October 10, two Tangkhul Naga village guards were gunned down in Ningchou Naga village by suspected Kuki-based militant groups who had infiltrated from across the Myanmar border.
Police officers said that on the same day, two other Kuki civilians, including a 42-year-old woman, were also killed during crossfire between armed militants and security forces.
Four members of the Naga community were also killed on September 25 in Pilong village in Kamjong district. The police FIR mentioned that “some unidentified armed persons suspected to be a rebel group of Myanmar base militant (KNA(B) holding sophisticated persons entered Pilong village along with the Indo-Myanmar and opened fire upon the villagers.”
The Naga-Kuki tensions intensified following twin ambushes on May 13 that left four people, including three church leaders, dead. In the aftermath of the ambushes, 48 people were taken hostage, triggering protests, shutdowns and a blockade along all three national highways in the state.
The ethnic clashes in Manipur first began between the Meitei and Kuki communities before involving almost every community. The state’s Meitei and Kuki-Zo communities have shut each other out from the areas they dominate since the ethnic clashes began in May 2023, leaving at least 260 people dead and displacing 60,000.
The Meiteis, mostly Hindu, live largely in the Imphal Valley. The Kukis, predominantly Christian, reside in the hills. The state government has maintained that there are no buffer zones dividing communities in the state, but it has identified certain sensitive areas.
A new government was formed in February, nearly a year after the imposition of President’s Rule. It includes representatives from all three major communities as part of an attempt to maintain ethnic balance.