Even as the India’s Chief of Army Staff General Manoj Pande on January 11 said violence has go down, Kuki-Zomi militants has once again attacked the Special Commandos of Manipur Police stationed at the Moreh Hospital in Moreh along the Indo-Myanmar border in the morning on January 12.
Since the violent conflict that erupted on May 3 last year with Kuki-Zomi militants attacking Meiteis in Manipur’s Churachandpur district and its bordering areas of Bishnupur district, the Meiteis in Moreh were pushed away and their properties were burned down and destroyed by the Kuki-Zomi militants.
After no Meitei civilians are left in Moreh, the Kuki-Zomi militants attack the Manipur Police personnel stationed in Moreh.
One of the major attacks on Manipur Police is the killing of Sub-Divisional Police Officer, Chingtham Anandkumar, an MPS officer by Kuki-Zomi militants using sniper riffle on October 31 at around 9:30am while he was on duty overseeing the cleaning of grounds for construction of a temporary helipad at the Eastern Shine School ground in Moreh, a commercial town near the boundary with Myanmar.
In reprisal to the killing of a Manipur Police Officer, a Manipur police re-enforcement team being dispatched to Moreh was also attacked at Sinam and Bongyang on the Imphal-Moreh Highway, in which three Manipur Police commados – S. Thuikhavang, S. Sekharjit, and L. Bangkim – sustained bullet injuries.
With deployment of more combined forces of State and Central Security personnel and intense operations against Kuki-Zomi militants, the violent activities of the Kuki-Zomi militants in Moreh appeared to be brought under control in town area except with some sporadic gun fights in the interiors of Moreh along the Indo-Myanmar border.
However, series of fresh attacks against the Manipur Police by the Kuki-Zomi miltants namely the Kuki National Army (KNA), the Kuki National Army Burma (KNA-B) and the United Kuki Liberation Front (UKLF) started again from December 30, 2023 using highly sophisticated weapons and warheads like rocket propelled grenades.
According to reports, a rocket propelled grenade reportedly burst a wall and exploded inside a room in one of the attacks injuring one personnel of Special Commando of Manipur Police.
The Kuki-Zomi militant attacks against the security forces started from December 30 last year continued daily till January 2, 2024.
Four Manipur Police Commando personnel and one BSF personnel sustained serious injuries in an ambush reportedly by Kuki militants, namely the Kuki National Army (KNA), the Kuki National Army – Burma (KNA-B), United Kuki Liberation Front (UKLF) and People’s Defence Force (PDF) en route to Moreh Hospital at Canaan Veng and Chawangphai in Moreh, Tengnoupal district on Tuesday morning, January 2. A combined team of Manipur Police Commando, BSF, IRB, MR, and Special Commando Unit moved in to carry out search operations en route to Moreh Hospital at Canaan Veng and Chawangphai around 8.30 am. They were ambushed on the way by Kuki militants using bombs and assault rifles.
At least 13 security personnel including 10 Special Commandos and 3 BSF men have been hurt in several attacks carried out by armed militants between December 30, 2023 and January 2, 2024 in Moreh.
Again, another gunfight broke out between Kuki-Zomi militants and Security Forces in the border town of Moreh in Manipur’s Tengnoupal district on Sunday, January 7. But no casualty was reported.
The intermittent firing between security forces and militants in Manipur’s border town Moreh continued on Monday, January 8. The firing started near the Moreh town at around 9 pm on Sunday and continued until midnight.
Continuing Kuki-Zomi militant attacks against State Forces, close on the heels of the visit of GOC Spear Corps Lt Gen HS Sahi and Director General Assam Rifles Lt Gen PC Nair to Moreh on January 9, Kuki-Zomi militants once again attacked Manipur Police Special Commandos using sophisticated weapons on January 10 at around 6.55 pm at Moreh town.
Assam Rifles Director General Lieutenant General PC Nair warned that the central security forces will retaliate in an appropriate manner if provoked or fired upon.
Despite stern warning, Kuki militants attacked the bullet proof vehicle used by Special Commando SP Th Krishnatombi around 5.40 pm. According to source, Kuki militants attacked the bullet proof vehicle of Krishnatombi using sniper rifle while he went for inspecting the BSF post at sub-divisional hospital located at Moreh Ward No. 7 Heinou Makhong. Two bullets hit the vehicle but no one was injured. Subsequently, special commando and state forces retaliated by firing several rounds.
The border town has been on high alert following a series of attacks by Kuki-Zomi militants on security forces, particularly Manipur police commandos.
However, the situation still remains very tense as the Kuki-Zomi militants has once again attacked the Special Commandos of Manipur Police stationed at the Moreh Hospital in Moreh along the Indo-Myanmar border in the morning on January 12. No casualties have been reported.
Meanwhile, describing the situation along the Indo-Myanmar border as a matter of concern, the Army Chief Manoj Pande said, “We are closely watching developments there”.
According to reports, addressing a press conference ahead of Army Day, Army Chief General Manoj Pande on January 11 said, “The Northeast has witnessed positive developments in the last year because of the proactive policies of the government. The violence parameters have overall come down. Manipur witnessed violence in May last year, but with the combined efforts by the state administration, Army and Assam Rifles, they have been able to stabilise the situation. We are working to normalise the situation and ensure stability.”
Here, it may be mentioned that the prominet narrative about the violence that erupted on May 3, 2023 is due to the involvement of Myanmar-origin militants.
India’s External Affairs Minister Subrahmanyam Jaishankar during a discussion at the Council on Foreign Relations in New York on September 26, 2023 stated that part of the problem in Manipur stemmed from the destabilising impact of migrants in the region.
Manipur Chief Minister Nongthombam Biren during his Independence Day speech last year on August 15, 2023 in Imphal attributed the violence to a “foreign plot to destabilise the country”.
Notably, on August 9, 2023 Union Home Minister Amit Shah, during a discussion on a no-confidence motion in Parliament, offered an explanation of the ongoing violent conflict between Kuki-Zomi militants and Meiteis in Manipur. He said the violence was triggered by an influx of Kukis from Myanmar into Manipur, which “created insecurities among Meiteis”.
“A Kuki Democratic Front started a movement there, and the military rulers launched a crackdown on them. As there is no border fencing, a large number of Kuki brothers came to Manipur and Mizoram as refugees,” Shah told Parliament. He was referring to the armed resistance against the junta in Myanmar and the attendant refugee movement across the India-Myanmar border.
Moreover, Manipur Governor Anusuiya Uikey on July 13, 2023 during a visit to a relief camp at Naorem Birahari College Khundrakpam in Imphal East said some inimical elements could have infiltrated from across the border to fuel the current unrest in the state.
However, Manipur Security Advisor Kuldiep Singh has said that there is no evidence to suggest Myanmar-based militants were involved in the attack on security forces in Tengnoupal district’s Moreh town on January 2.
Kuldiep Singh’s statement contradicts to what Chief Minister Nongthombam Biren 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.
On the security situation in Manipur’s border town Moreh along Indo-Myanmar border, Kuldiep Singh, Advisor (Security), Govt of Manipur while interacting media alongside the 190th Death Anniversary of Maharaj Gambhir Singh on Janaury 9, 2024 says, “In Moreh, a lot of village volunteers along with militants are there, and they’re trying to evict the commandos present there. They’ve been told that the State forces can’t be evicted, and will act. We don’t have any confirmation on Myanmar-based militants…We haven’t been able to arrest any. They (militants) have been attacking the security forces. We’ve information that militants or miscreants from nearby areas have assembled there…Whoever is the culprit will be taken to task. Assam Rifles, the commandos and the BSF personnel are tackling them.. our combing operation will continue….Assam Rifles are guarding the border properly…”
Conspicuously, Manipur Government’s Security Advisor Kuldiep Singh’s recent statement on the series of attacks by Kuki-Zomi militants against Security Forces particularly Manipur Police Special Commandos in the Indo-Myanmar border town Moreh contradicts and twists the prominent narrative of the almost nine-month violent conflict in Manipur.
Senior Editor: Imphal Review of Arts and Politics
