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Ethnic conflicts have been disrupting Manipur for the past 18 months. | File Photo: PTI
Manipur Chief Minister N Biren Singh called an emergency meeting with MLAs from the ruling coalition, which comprises the BJP, Naga People’s Front, and National Peoples Party (NPP), on Saturday evening to discuss the prevailing law and order situation in the state, official sources said.
The meeting, scheduled to take place at the Chief Minister’s bungalow, is expected to focus on critical decisions concerning the recent attacks on civilians by armed men from elevated hill areas, sources added.
Additionally, the legislators, along with Singh, may also meet the governor, though this is yet to be confirmed.
A fresh wave of violence in Manipur’s Jiribam district has resulted in the deaths of at least five persons. This incident occurred just one day after militants targetted two locations in Bishnupur with rockets, leading to the death of an elderly man and injuring five others.
A Hindustan Times report quoted a security force officer stationed in Manipur as saying that the death toll might rise. “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,” the officer said.
Ethnic conflicts have been disrupting Manipur for the past 18 months, but the situation has escalated significantly in the past five days following a new surge of violence. On Friday night, just hours after an elderly man was killed in Bishnupur, crowds in Imphal tried to raid the armories of the 2 Manipur Rifles and 7 Manipur Rifles. The security forces successfully foiled these attempts.
On Friday, the state experienced its first recorded use of rockets since the onset of conflict 17 months ago, according to officials. This occurred just six days after drones were first used as weapons. A late-night statement from the Manipur police revealed that Kuki militants deployed “long-range rockets”.
In response to the escalating violence, the Manipur administration has ordered all educational institutions in the state to remain closed on Saturday.
(Only the headline and picture of this report may have been reworked by the Business Standard staff; the rest of the content is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
First Published: Sep 07 2024 | 6:27 PM IST
