Manipur: 4 Naga homes set afire in retaliatory attack hours after Kuki killings

A couple was among the four Kukis killed in the Tamenglong district on Sunday while a six-year-old sustained a bullet injury

Four abandoned Naga homes were set on fire at Khedaghar in ethnic violence-hit Manipur’s Tamenglong district on Sunday evening in a retaliatory attack hours after four Kukis were killed in separate attacks earlier that day, officials said on Monday. Officials said unidentified arsonists set the houses around 27 km from the district headquarters on fire, and no casualties were reported, as the Nagas had left their homes weeks ago fearing Kuki retaliation amid heightened tensions between the two communities.

Sporadic violence has continued and left 306 people dead and 49 missing in Manipur since May 2023. (ANI/Representative)

An officer requesting anonymity said security forces, including the Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF), dominated the area and residents had fled. “The district has only one remote Naga village, Baiboni, around 30 km from headquarters. There are around 20 houses, and a permanent platoon of CRPF is stationed there. A column of 38 AR [Assam Rifles] is also stationed at Muolzol Kuki village, almost three km from Baiboni.”

A couple was among the four Kukis killed in Manipur’s Tamenglong district on Sunday while a six-year-old sustained a bullet injury. Police said 46-year-old Lhingzangai Singsit was shot dead on the spot in the first attack around 5.30am at Tollen village. Her husband Seineh Singsit succumbed to bullet injuries. In the second attack, a man and a woman were killed in Longpi village. No groups have claimed responsibility for the attacks.

Western Village Volunteer, a Kuki group, blamed the National Socialist Council of Nagaland-Isaac Muivah (NSCN-IM) and Zeliangrong United Front-Kamson (ZUF-K) for the attacks, coinciding with the “Black Day”, which Kukis observe annually on September 13 in memory of the victims of ethnic violence during the Kuki-Naga conflict in the 1990s.

On Monday, the Kuki-Zo Council (KZC), a Kuki-Zo apex civil body, condemned the attacks in Tollen and Longpi. It said a Tollen couple was killed and their six-year-old son sustained a gunshot injury to his hand, reportedly leaving it nearly severed. It added that in Longpi, Julie Gangte, a pregnant woman, and Thangvel Roel Gangte, the only son of his family, were killed, while Nei Esther sustained critical injuries.

The council alleged NSCN-IM cadres operating through or alongside ZUF-K and Naga Village Guards carried out the attacks. It hit out at the double standards of Naga leaders in Manipur. “...the brutality of Naga armed groups can no longer be ignored.”

The council said Naga leaders demand justice for six Nagas killed in May but remain silent over the 22 Kuki-Zos, including women and children, whom Naga armed groups have reportedly killed since the beginning of 2026.

Kuki militants abducted and killed the six Nagas after holding them captive for nearly a month in Kangpokpi on May 13. The killings followed a twin ambush on the same day, which killed four people, including three church leaders and one Naga. The Naga groups have been demanding the arrest of all accused involved in the killing of the six Nagas and the abrogation of the ceasefire pact with Kuki militants.

On August 31, the nine Naga legislators submitted a memorandum to Union Home Minister Amit Shah demanding immediate arrest of Kuki-Zo leaders, who have claimed responsibility for the killing and dismemberment of the six Nagas, including Thangboi Kipgen, the husband of deputy chief minister Nemcha Kipgen, a Kuki.

Self-styled Gen ‘Tiger’ Kipgen cadres are alleged to have killed and mutilated the bodies of the six Nagas.

Naga and Kuki-Zo tensions escalated after the May 13 twin ambushes. On the same day, Kuki-Zo and Naga groups captured 48 people. On May 15, 14 captives each from the two communities were released. The remaining 14 Kuki-Zo hostages were freed unharmed on June 9. Mutilated bodies of the six Nagas were found the next day.

The ethnic violence in Manipur first began in 2023 between the Meitei and Kuki communities before involving almost every community. The state’s Meitei and Kuki-Zo communities have shut each other out of the areas they dominate.

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 balance. But sporadic violence has continued and left 306 people dead and 49 missing since May 2023.