Five members of the Kuki tribal community have been killed in fresh ethnic violence in India’s northeastern state of Manipur, deepening fear in a region already torn by competing conflicts.
Police said three Kuki men were killed on Saturday during an exchange of gunfire with unidentified armed attackers in Noney district. The following morning, security forces found the bodies of two other Kuki men who had been missing since earlier in the week. The bodies were recovered in Kangpokpi district after a search operation, according to Reuters.
A leading Kuki tribal organisation blamed Naga separatist groups for the killings. It described the deaths as a “direct unprovoked assault” on the Kuki community in what it called its homeland. Naga groups have not yet publicly responded to the allegation.
The killings came as hundreds of thousands of people protested in Imphal, the state capital, and other parts of Manipur. Demonstrators demanded the cancellation of a ceasefire arrangement between Kuki armed groups and the Indian state.
The mainly Christian Kuki and Naga communities have long competed for control of ethnic homelands in Manipur, a remote and mountainous state in India’s northeast. Their rivalry has repeatedly erupted into violence.
The latest tensions began after a Naga man was allegedly assaulted by Kuki men in February. The situation worsened in May, when three Kuki pastors were killed, allegedly by Naga armed groups. Both communities then carried out retaliatory abductions and killings.
The Kuki-Naga conflict has added another layer of danger to Manipur, where the Kuki community is also fighting the mainly Hindu Meitei community. That conflict began in May 2023 over economic benefits and job quotas and has left the state deeply divided.
More than 60,000 people displaced by the violence continue to live in temporary shelters. According to officials, the broader conflict has claimed more than 300 lives.
For residents of Manipur, the latest killings are a grim sign that peace remains distant. As protests grow and armed groups trade accusations, displaced families fear the violence could spread further.
