At least four Assam Rifles personnel were injured on Friday morning during an ambush carried out by a group of unidentified heavily-armed gunmen in strife-hit Manipur’s Tengnoupal district bordering Myanmar.
An official statement said a patrolling party of Assam Rifles was “fired upon by terrorists” along the India-Myanmar border in the early morning hours of Friday.
“The fire was immediately retaliated with control and caution, keeping civilian safety. The operations are currently under way, with additional troops being deployed into the area,” the statement said but did not mention about any fall-out of the attack.
A security official posted in Tengnoupal said that at least four personnel from 3 Assam Rifles reportedly suffered splinter injuries from “grenades/lathode bombs” used in the attack carried out near Yangoupokpi Maring village, a remote part of the Kuki-Zo majority district.
The place of occurrence is about 45km from the district headquarters and about 76km from Imphal.
The injured were reportedly airlifted to the army hospital in Leimakhong by a chopper. Their condition is stated to be stable. Another security personnel claimed the number of injured is five.
No group has claimed responsibility for the ambush.
This is the second ambush on Assam Rifles personnel since September — that left two dead and five injured at Nambol in Bishnupur district, a Meitei-majority district in Imphal Valley.
The ambush comes amid the hosting of the 10-day Sangai Festival which has been largely boycotted by the public because of the ongoing turmoil in the state, with internally displaced persons demanding the deferment of such festivities till they are resettled.
A group of students tried to storm the venue of the Sangai Music Festival at Khuman Lampak in Imphal before its launch in protest. They said holding the festival during such unrest is “insensitive”.
A protest was also organised under the aegis of the Coordinating Committee on Manipur Integrity, opposing the flagship cultural-tourism event of the state government.
