Two persons, including an eight-year-old girl, have been injured in a firing by armed groups in Manipur's Kangpokpi district, police said on Monday.

The incident took place in Thingkhongjang village on Sunday evening, and the injured, Nengneichong Kipgen (56) and Lamneingah Kipgen (8), were brought to Imphal for treatment late in the night, they said.

The injured were initially provided first aid at an Assam Rifles camp and later brought to the Regional Institute of Medical Sciences (RIMS) in Imphal for further treatment. Security has been tightened around the RIMS campus.

In June, protests erupted when three Kuki youths, injured in an exchange of fire in Kangpokpi district, were admitted to RIMS for treatment. Claiming the injured were armed men, the protesters had attempted to storm the hospital building.

Following Sunday's firing incident, Kuki Inpi Manipur (KIM), the apex body of the Kuki tribe in the state, expressed outrage over the attack and alleged the NSCN (IM) and ZUF (Kamson) to be behind the firing.

"The deliberate targeting of an unarmed civilian settlement is nothing less than an act of terror against innocent people and represents a grave assault on human dignity and the rule of law.

"The Central and Manipur governments must understand that the continued failure to protect innocent civilians gravely undermines public confidence in the institutions of the state," it said.

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