Manipur: Firing between forces, militants continue in border town Moreh

Moreh, the town in Manipur’s Tengnoupal, district has been on high alert after a spate of attacks by militants on security forces, especially Manipur police commandos

New Delhi: Intermittent firing continued between security forces and militants in Manipur’s border town Moreh on Monday, officials aware of the matter said. The firing started near the Moreh town at around 9 pm on Sunday and continued until midnight.

Clashes between the two dominant communities in Manipur, Meities and Kukis, began on May 3 last year. (PTI/File)

The exchange of gunfire resumed on Monday morning. Kaikholal Haokip, spokesperson of the Kuki Inpi Tengnoupal, an umbrella group for Kukis in the district said, the firing on Monday started around 8.15 am and continued until noon. “Security forces retaliated, which has caused a lot of damage to public property. Mortars were fired at civilian population. The security forces are holding peace negotiation with the locals and CSOs.”

A security force officer, aware of the details ,said on Monday evening, “There was intermittent firing. No one is injured. The militants had fired at the security forces in the hills near Moreh town to which the forces responded appropriately.”

A Moreh resident, Mangminsei, who is also the unit 8 general secretary of Moreh’s Hill Tribal Council, “We heard gunshots until around noon. No one stepped out from their houses when the shots were being fired between forces and gunmen. We do not have any reports of injuries from either side...The situation now is better.”

The town in Manipur’s Tengnoupal district has been on high alert after a spate of attacks by militants on security forces, especially Manipur police commandos. At least 10 security personnel have been injured in different incidents in Moreh.

On January 2, at least seven security personnel — four Manipur police commandos and 3 BSF personnel— on their way to conduct a search operation were injured in an attack. On December 30, militants attacked Manipur police commandos inside their barracks, during which rocket propelled grenades (RPG) were fired.

Haokip said that the gunfight is a result of the state government posting Manipur police commandos in the Moreh town, where most residents are Kukis. The village defence volunteers and Kuki CSOs have accused Manipur police commandos of bias and demanded their removal from the town.

Chief minister Biren Singh last week told reporters that the possibility of involvement of mercenaries from Myanmar in the attacks on personnel in Moreh could not be ruled out. “We have doubts about involvement of foreign mercenaries from Myanmar side, he said.

Manipur has been in the throes of a deadly ethnic violence since early May as clashes erupted between the Meiteis, the most populous community in the state, and the tribal Kukis, killing nearly 200 people. Widespread ethnic violence has led to the formation of community-based armed village defence volunteers as the fault lines have deepened beyond the Meitei -Kuki divide, pitting different communities and groups against each other in the state.