Imphal, Jan. 4: Two factions of the militant People?s Revolutionary Party of Kangleipak (Prepak) have announced their merger, promising never to break up again.

Announcing the unification through a statement, the outfit?s central committee said its leadership and the armed wing, the Red Army, decided to patch up and work together.

Prepak is a constituent member of the militant joint front, the Manipur Peoples Liberation Front. The other two members are the Revolutionary Peoples Front, the political wing of the Peoples Liberation Army, and the United National Liberation Front, the political wing of Manipur Peoples Army.

Prepak split in August 2003, one faction headed by its chairman M. Biren Singh and the other led by vice-chairman Nongdren Khomba. After the break-up, the activists of the two factions were engaged in an internecine war, resulting in the death of several members on both sides.

Biren was arrested last year and is now in jail. Immediately after the arrest, Prepak clarified that Biren had retired from the outfit.

The statement said the outfit, having realised the futility of disunity and internecine clashes, would now try to lend an international look to the struggle.

The declaration, however, did not specify who is now leading the organisation and when and where the unification took place.

The unification is bound to give a headache to the security forces deployed in Manipur. The move, besides giving more fighting power to the group, may also set the ball rolling for unification of the other armed outfits of the state.

The development came at a time when the other two members of the joint front have stepped up their armed campaign in different parts of the state. On December 31, members of the Peoples Liberation Army gunned down IGP (intelligence) T. Thangthuam, the seniormost police officer ever killed in Manipur in its long history of insurgency.

The cadre of Manipur Peoples Army, the military wing of the UNLF, have also been fighting the security forces at regular intervals, particularly in the districts of Churachandpur, Tamenglong and Bishenpur.

Yesterday, the Manipur Peoples Army had a gunbattle with the troops of the Assam Rifles in Tamenglong district in which three jawans were killed and five wounded . The encounter came follows another gunfight in Loktak lake last week. Three militants, one jawan and a fisherman were killed in the encounter.