Armed Group Torches Houses in Two Manipur Naga Villages
Armed men attacked two Liangmei Naga villages in Manipur's Kangpokpi district, setting houses ablaze and injuring one person.
Violence flared again along the remote IT Road in Manipur's Kangpokpi district early Tuesday, when armed men allegedly attacked two villages inhabited by the Liangmei Naga community.
The Makui Village Authority said the attackers first struck Pipuram Naga Village around 4 am, firing shots and setting multiple houses on fire. The flames consumed homes along with food grains, household belongings, and other property, the authority alleged.
The same group then moved toward the main Makui Naga Village, where firing continued toward the settlement. One person was reported injured during the incident.
In a statement issued on September 1, the Makui Village Authority condemned the assault, describing it as an attack by Kuki militants. It claimed the attackers tried to torch houses in the main Makui village and cause large-scale casualties.
The authority also referenced an earlier incident on August 27, in which four villagers from Makui were allegedly killed in a pre-planned ambush between Makui Ashang and Thanambam villages. Tuesday's attack, coming days after those killings, has heightened fears among residents, the statement said.
The village authority alleged the continued attacks are an attempt to drive Liangmei Nagas out of the IT Road area and seize what it called their ancestral land.
The IT Road passes through one of the most remote and sparsely populated parts of Manipur, where Kuki, Naga, and Nepali communities live in scattered settlements. The region has seen recurring cycles of attack and counter-attack between Kuki and Naga villages, with road blockades and gunfire periodically disrupting movement.
The allegations in the village authority's statement could not be independently verified. Details on the number of houses damaged, casualty figures, and the condition of the injured person were not immediately available.