Imphal, Nov. 23: Five Assam Rifles personnel, including two officers, were gunned down by militants of the United National Liberation Front in an ambush at Old Somtal in Manipur’s Chandel district along the Indo-Myanmar border this morning.

In the evening, militants ambushed a police commando team, moving in two vehicles, at Yaralpat in Imphal East district and injured five. The commandos retaliated but the militants managed to flee. The injured were admitted to Shija Hospital here. No outfit has claimed responsibility for the attack.

The UNLF attack comes on the eve of the 45th raising day of the outfit tomorrow. This is the oldest militant group in Manipur and a major force to reckon with.

Assam Rifles spokesperson Lt Col Prashant W. confirmed that five personnel had been killed in the ambush.

“Yes, we lost five soldiers, including two officers, Lt Col Bhupendra Mehra and Capt. Raj Kumar. We do not know if there was any casualty on the side of the attackers,” he said.

A UNLF spokesperson claimed that a group of its well-armed Manipur Peoples Army (the outfit’s military wing) ambushed a convoy of the 43 Assam Rifles that was coming from its base at Old Somtal along the Indo-Myanmar border at 9 this morning.

The area has a strong presence of security forces. The convoy comprised a water tanker and an escort vehicle, a Gypsy. The team was coming to collect water.

“We fired at the Gypsy and all the five personnel travelling in it were killed. We also took five weapons,” the spokesperson for the outfit said.

The UNLF claimed to have taken away two AK rifles, two Insas rifles and a carbine, along with some medicines from the troops.

The paramilitary force, however, denied that any weapon had been taken away.

The Assam Rifles spokesperson said reinforcements were rushed to the site but the militants managed to retreat.

Claiming responsibility for the Singjamei attack, the UNLF also said its cadres also ambushed the vehicle carrying reinforcements and killed four more soldiers. Denying the claim, the paramilitary force maintained that only five soldiers had died.

Sources in the Assam Rifles said the militants had sneaked into Manipur from Myanmar to carry out the ambush. Troops deployed at Old and New Somtal have laun-ched a major search operation to track down the attackers.

The Okram Ibobi Singh government has put all security agencies in the state, including troops along the Indo-Myanmar border, on high alert in view of today’s attack and tomorrow’s raising day of the UNLF.

This is the second time the militants have struck against troops of the Assam Rifles.

The UNLF carried out a grenade attack on a convoy of Assam Rifles at Singjamei bazaar on the outskirts of Imphal city on Thursday night.

The UNLF cadres hurled a hand grenade at a Gypsy, which was part of an Assam Rifles convoy from Imphal bound for Thoubal. The grenade exploded inside the vehicle and wounded two jawans.