Fresh Violence in Manipur Leaves Five Dead as Tensions Flare Again

Five people have been killed in two separate incidents in India’s northeastern state of Manipur, police said on Sunday, as fresh ethnic violence flared in the conflict-hit region. All five victims belonged to the Kuki tribal community, and the deaths have triggered protests, road blockades and a shutdown in parts of the affected districts.

FAKTA: What happened

• Five Kuki men were killed in two separate incidents in Manipur over the weekend, police said on Sunday, 1 November.
• Three men were killed in an exchange of gunfire in Noney district on Saturday, in firing police attributed to unidentified armed attackers.
• The bodies of two other men, missing since earlier in the week, were found in Kangpokpi district on Sunday morning after a joint search operation.
• A leading Kuki tribal organisation blamed Naga separatist groups for the killings, an allegation the authorities have not confirmed.
• Manipur’s chief minister has appealed for peaceful coexistence among the state’s communities.

Two incidents in two days

Police said the first incident took place on Saturday at Kekru, a Naga village in Noney district, where three Kuki men were shot dead during an exchange of fire. Local reports identified them as Thanglensang Singson, Thangkhosei Haokip and Lamminsang Kipgen.

The second incident came to light on Sunday morning, when security personnel recovered the bodies of two young men, both aged 20, in an area adjoining Kangpokpi district near the NH-2 highway. A joint operation involving Manipur police, the Central Reserve Police Force and the Assam Rifles had been searching for them since they went missing earlier in the week. Local reports named them as Paoginlal Hangsing and Tinginlun Chongloi.

The recovery became a flashpoint. Protesters blocked the highway in Kangpokpi, shops closed under a shutdown called by a tribal unity committee, and security forces used tear gas at points to disperse crowds.

A conflict with deep roots

The predominantly Christian Kuki and Naga tribes have a long history of conflict over competing claims to ethnic homelands in the state. Reports say the latest round of fighting erupted after a Naga man was allegedly assaulted by men from the Kuki community in February this year, and the killing of three Kuki pastors in May, allegedly by Naga armed groups, triggered retaliatory abductions and killings by both sides.

The deaths also come amid mass protests in the state capital, Imphal, where hundreds of thousands of people have demanded the scrapping of a ceasefire arrangement between Kuki armed groups and the Indian state. Manipur’s chief minister, Yumnam Khemchand Singh, has urged communities to step back from confrontation.

Manipur is still living with a separate conflict between the Kuki community and the mainly Hindu Meitei community, which began in May 2023 over economic benefits and job quotas. That conflict has claimed more than 300 lives, and more than 60,000 people displaced by it still live in temporary shelters. Officials fear each new killing risks setting off another cycle of retaliation.

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