While ethnic clashes have roiled Manipur for the last one and a half years, the situation has been extreme tense in the last 5 days.
At least three persons were killed in fresh wave of violence that was reported from Manipur’s Jiribam district. The killings were reported a day after militants in Manipur fired rockets at two spots in Bishnupur, killing an elderly man and injuring five others.
An officer of a security force posted in Manipur said the number of casualties could increase. “The gunfight started in the morning after militants entered a village and killed a man. The killing was part of the ethnic clashes. The gunfight is on. We have reports that the ones who died are from both Kuki and Meitei communities.”
While ethnic clashes have roiled Manipur for the last one and a half years, the situation has been extreme tense in the last 5 days after another wave of violence.
On Friday night, hours after the elderly man was killed in Bishnupur, mobs in Imphal attempted to loot weapons from the headquarters of the 2 Manipur Rifles and 7 Manipur Rifles. The security forces foiled their attempts.
Rockets attack in Manipur
Friday’s attack is the first known use of rockets in the state since the conflict erupted 17 months ago, said officials, just six days after drones were first weaponised. Manipur police in a late-night statement said Kuki militants had used “long range rockets.”
The surging violence prompted the Manipur administration to order all education institutions across the state to remain shut on Saturday.
Conflict in the state, which has been besieged by ethnic clashes between Kukis and Meiteis since May 3 last year, has ratcheted up since Sunday, with militants turning to newer technologies such as drones and rockets and adding a fresh layer of violence even as the use of rifles and grenade continued unabated.
The senior officer said the rockets fired on Friday were at least four-feet long. “It seems the explosives were filled in a galvanised iron (GI) pipe. The GI pipes with explosives were then fitted in a country-made rocket launcher and fired simultaneously,” the officer said.
“For the projectile to travel a longer distance, the militants have to change the volume of the explosives. It seems they have been practising this during the months of lull,” the second officer said. Source
