Imphal, July 1 (IANS). More than 20 houses were set on fire in Manipur’s Kamjong district, near the India-Myanmar border, on Wednesday as armed clashes broke out between Naga and Kuki groups, sparking violence.
According to a senior police officer, the violence began in the morning when armed men, allegedly from a nearby Kuki village, attacked a Naga village and set at least 10 houses on fire.
The situation worsened in the afternoon when suspected militants and armed village volunteers reportedly retaliated on other villages in the area.
Officials said that in the violence that followed, at least 12 more houses of the Naga community were burnt.
Security forces were dispatched to the affected villages and area control operations were conducted to restore normalcy.
Officials said the situation remains tense but is being closely monitored and additional forces have been deployed to prevent any further violence.
These latest clashes have taken place against the backdrop of rising tensions between the Naga and Kuki communities. The tension has arisen following the killing of six Naga civilians, whose bodies were recovered from Kangpokpi district on June 11 after they were allegedly abducted on May 13.
The incident sparked widespread protests, an economic blockade and renewed hostilities between the two communities.
This latest violence follows recent controversies and demonstrations by various organizations over the movement of convoys of essential commodities in Kuki-dominated areas.
No casualties have been officially reported in Wednesday’s incidents.
Kuki INPI Manipur (KIM) has strongly condemned this latest terrorist act in which a Kuki village in Kamjong district was burnt to ashes by armed terrorists of Naga groups.
KIM claimed in a statement that this latest attack is yet another episode in a planned campaign of violence and destruction targeting Kuki villages in the Tangkhul-dominated hill districts of Manipur. What makes this incident even more worrying is that the village was under the protection of security forces, whose soldiers had left the post just a day before the arson. The timing of the incident raises serious concerns about security arrangements in sensitive villages and emphasizes the need for an immediate and transparent investigation into the reasons behind the attack.
Meanwhile, expressing regret over the killings of six Naga civilians, Kuki-Jo Council (KZC) Chairman Henlianthang Thanglet recently apologized for the incident and demanded an impartial, transparent and neutral investigation into all incidents of violence linked to the ongoing ethnic unrest in the state.
–IANS
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