13 bodies recovered in Tengnoupal district bordering Myanmar after a gunfight between miscreants

Guwahati: Security forces on Monday recovered at least 13 bodies in Kuki-dominated Tengnoupal district in conflict-hit Manipur hours after reports about a gunfight. 

Sources in a security establishment in Manipur said the bodies with bullet wounds were found near Leithu area but they were yet to be identified. Assam Rifles launched an operation in the area after getting information about a gunfight between armed miscreants at around 10.30am on Monday. Sources said the incident took place in a Kuki-dominated village in Tengnoupal, which shares a porous border with Myanmar.

Confirming the incident, Manipur police on Monday night said 13 persons were killed in a gunfight between unknown armed miscreants at Leithao village under Machi police station. "District police and other security forces rushed to the spot. A case has been registered and investigation is going on," police said in a post on 'X'.  

The incident took place a day after the Manipur government decided to lift the ban on mobile internet saying the law and order situation in the conflict-hit state improved in the past few days. The restriction, however, has remained in force in the two kilometer radius of the buffer zone that divides the Meitei dominated valley from the Kuki-dominated hill districts.

Nearly 200 people have been killed and over 60,000 others have been displaced due to the clashes between the majority Meitei and the Kukis since May. The sporadic incidents have continued despite the presence of a large number of central security forces including the Army.

Lalduhoma's call: 

After storming to power in neighbouring Mizoram, chief of Zoram People's Movement (ZPM), Lalduhoma urged the Centre to immediately promulgate Presidents' Rule in Manipur in order to stop the conflict. He also supported the demand for a "separate administration" for the Kukis in Manipur in order to find an end to the conflict.