GUWAHATI: A fresh gunfight erupted between armed members of two Kuki-Zo groups in Manipur’s Tengnoupal district on Friday. According to local media reports, at least three people were killed.
Chief Minister N Biren Singh confirmed the incident but did not share anything on casualties. He told the State Assembly that security forces had rushed to the area to contain the situation.
He added that the gunmen belonged to same community.
The gunfight broke out between the insurgent group United Kuki Liberation Front (UKLF) and Kuki village volunteers at two places—Molnoi Pallel and Molnom—at around 8 am.
During the violence, the village volunteers reportedly torched the house of UKLF chief SS Hoakip in Molnoi village. The reason behind the conflict between the two sides was not known.
The incident comes a day after unidentified armed men opened fire on a group of labourers when they had gone to assemble a pre-fabricated house near Torbung in the Bishnupur district. Security forces retaliated but no casualties were reported.
Recently, CM Biren Singh had told the Assembly that the ethnic violence, which broke out on May 3 last year, left 226 people dead and over 59,000 others displaced.