Manipur: Two killed, several injured in fresh gunfight between 'armed miscreants' and security forces

Both Meitei and Kuki groups charged each other for the violence and said that it was carried out to draw attention of the leaders attending the G-20 Summit in New Delhi.

As India remained busy in welcoming various world leaders for the G20 Summit in New Delhi, volatile situation prevailed in conflict-hit Manipur as two people were killed and several others were injured in a fresh gunfight between "armed miscreants" and the security forces on Friday.

Sources in one of the central security forces said the firing started at around 6 am at Molnoi near Pallel in Kuki-dominated Tengnoupal district when "armed miscreants" from Meitei-dominated Valley entered the area and tried to attack a Kuki village. The "armed miscreants" started firing as the central security forces stopped a mob of Meitei women, locally called Meira Paibis (women vigilante group), who blocked a road to prevent entry of the security forces to the area.

One Assam Rifles personnel was among those injured. The injured, including women, were rushed to hospitals. One of them succumbed to his bullet injuries, the source said.

Indigenous Tribal Leaders' Forum (ITLF), a Kuki organisation, said that the Kuki villagers took refuge in a BSF camp while the "village volunteers" tried to defend their village against the Meitei "armed miscreants." The "village volunteers" are village youths engaged in "defending" their villages with licensed weapons, which are normally used in hunting, they claimed. The ITLF said one Kuki "village volunteer" was also killed by the Meitei "armed miscreants." The same, however, could not be verified with the security forces.

The Coordination Committee on Manipur Integrity (COCOMI), a forum of several organizations of the Meiteis, on the other hand, claimed that the firing was started by "Chin Kuki narco terrorists."

The firing comes two days after several persons were injured in stampede after security forces fired tear gas shells and rubber bullets to disperse a mob of Meiteis who gathered along the boundary between Meitei-dominated Bishnupur and Kuki-dominated Churachandpur districts. The mob tried to evict a barricade put up by the Assam Rifles and push it towards Churachandpur as they wanted to resettle some Meitei villagers in Torbung and Kwakta, from where they fled after the violence started. The security forces, however, stopped them saying the same could further escalate the violence.

World attention

The situation in Manipur has already drawn attention on the world stage as more than 170 people have been killed and 60,000 others have been displaced due to the violence between the Meiteis and the Kukis since May 3. On September 4, a team of UN experts also raised alarm about Manipur violence and reports of human rights violations and abuse.

Sporadic incidents of firing and arson have continued despite the presence of over 40,000 central security forces.

Both COCOMI and ITLF charged each other for the violence and alleged that the fresh violence was carried out as part of efforts to draw attention of the world leaders attending the G-20 Summit in New Delhi.