Key Points
- Two Assam Rifles soldiers were killed and at least four others were injured in an ambush in Manipur’s Bishnupur district on Friday evening.
- The attack occurred around 5:40 PM at Nambol Sabal Leikai, just 8 km from Imphal airport, when unidentified gunmen fired on a military vehicle.
- This is the first major deadly attack on central security forces in Manipur in several months, breaking a period of relative calm.
- The ambush comes just days after Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s visit to the state and ahead of a planned shutdown by militant groups.
- A massive search operation has been launched to track down the assailants, and security has been heightened in the area.
Dispur: In a significant escalation of violence in Manipur, two Assam Rifles soldiers were killed and at least four others were injured on Friday evening after their vehicle was ambushed by unidentified armed militants in the Bishnupur district. The attack shatters a months-long period of relative calm and deals a blow to peace efforts in the conflict-ridden state.
The incident took place around 5:40 PM at Nambol Sabal Leikai, a strategic location situated between Imphal and Churachandpur and only about 8 kilometers from the Imphal airport. The soldiers were traveling in a truck from Imphal towards Bishnupur when they came under heavy and indiscriminate fire from the assailants. The injured personnel were immediately evacuated to a nearby hospital for treatment.
Aftermath and Broader Context
The Governor of Manipur, Ajay Kumar Bhalla, strongly condemned the attack, confirming that two “brave jawans of the Assam Rifles made the supreme sacrifice in the line of duty”. Security forces, including the Assam Rifles and local police, have cordoned off the area and launched a large-scale joint search operation to apprehend the perpetrators.
This ambush is the first deadly attack on central security forces in Manipur since last year and comes at a particularly sensitive time.
- It occurred just six days after Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s visit to Churachandpur and Imphal on September 13, where he met with internally displaced people to promote peace and reconciliation.
- The attack also happened just two days before a proposed bandh (shutdown) called by valley-based militant groups to protest the Manipur Merger Agreement of 1949.
The incident highlights the fragile security situation in the state, which has been engulfed in ethnic violence between the Meitei and Kuki-Zo communities since May 2023. The conflict has so far claimed over 260 lives and displaced more than 70,000 people.
