AT LEAST 11 suspected Kuki insurgents were killed in the encounter with security forces in Manipur’s Jiribam district on November 11, 2024. A soldier from the Central Reserve Police Force has received injuries during the attack and is being evacuated to Silchar Medical College in Assam.
The attack had begun when suspected Kuki militants, from two sides, launched a coordinated assault on a police station at Jiribam. According to sources, the militants may have targeted a nearby relief camp for internally displaced people that is located next to the police station.
The attackers came in autorickshaws, a police officer said. The Borobekra Police Station has been attacked for the third time in the past few months. The suspected insurgents, after attacking the station, moved further towards a small settlement in Jakurador Karong, about one km away from the station, and started burning houses while exchanging gunfire with security forces.
The CRPF reinforcement has been dispatched in the area in response to the growing violence. In protest of the incident, Kuki civil society groups announced a shutdown in areas mainly populated by their community, mourning the death of what they termed “village volunteers.” The security forces recovered RPGs and AK-series assault rifles, among other weapons, from the spot.
The attack occurred at around 3 PM, as armed militants attacked the CRPF post in Jakuradhor and the nearby Borobekra Police Station. The CRPF strongly retaliated against this assault. Both sides claim that their “village volunteers” use single-barreled licensed firearms, though several leaked visuals told a different story altogether.
The situation in the Jiribam area has turned grim over the last week after a string of incidents of violence. On Thursday, a woman from the Hmar tribe was reportedly killed by suspected Meitei insurgents, who also torched homes. Her husband alleged she was raped before her murder. A day later, a woman from the Meitei community was shot by suspected Kuki insurgents while she was working in a paddy field.
In Imphal East District this morning, a farmer was injured in gunfire by suspected Kuki insurgents from hillsides. The attacks during this paddy harvest season create a sense of alarm among locals, who are mostly hesitant to return to the fields due to a threat to their safety.
The CRPF is considered the biggest CAPF in India, with an enviable record of the anti-Maoist operations undertaken in different states. It has played a key role in combating Naxalism. In September, CRPF Deputy Inspector General Manish Kumar Sachar reported that families staying in the relief camps of Manipur wanted to return to their homes if their security could be guaranteed.
Kuki tribesmen have been demonstrably up in arms against the central government’s decision to withdraw two battalions of the Assam Rifles from Manipur and send them to Jammu and Kashmir. The situation has deteriorated further in this region.
