Four Nagas killed near Myanmar border in Manipur, KNF(B) suspected

Guwahati: Four Nagas, including a father and son duo, were killed in Kamjong district of Manipur, with many suspecting the involvement of the Kuki National Front (Burma), an armed group based in neighbouring Myanmar, in the attack.

Phami Jajo, Vareishim Jajo, Ningthem Kashak and Betterson Jajo were gunned down near Pilong village in Kamjong, a Naga-dominated hill district situated close to the border with Myanmar.

Although police in Manipur did not disclose details of the case, former Manipur CM N. Biren Singh said Phami and Vareishim Jajo were father and son. Singh said KNF (B) is suspected to be behind the killing, which has added to tensions in Manipur amid sporadic incidents of gunfights involving the Naga and Kuki communities.

Nearly 50 people have died in the Naga-Kuki conflict since the new government took charge in February this year.

Myanmar-based group

Security officials in Manipur said KNF (B) is an armed group based in Myanmar but has been found involved in cross-border attacks, taking advantage of the porous Indo-Myanmar border.

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"Cadres of the group carry out attacks on vulnerable villages situated near the border and flee back into their remote hideouts in Myanmar," a source in a central security agency said.

The Working Committee of Tangkhul Naga Long (TNL), an apex body of Tangkhul Nagas, claimed KNF (B) cadres crossed the Namya river from Phailen Kuki village in Myanmar and launched a violent attack on civilians in Pilong. It held the Centre responsible for failing to prevent attacks from across the border in Myanmar.

Porous border

Manipur shares 398 km of the 1,643-km-long border with Myanmar, and most stretches have remained porous, allowing cross-border militants and criminals to carry out unlawful activities.

Organisations representing the Meitei and Naga communities have claimed the involvement of Myanmar-based Kuki armed groups in several such attacks since May 2023, when the Meitei-Kuki conflict erupted.

On Friday, Biren Singh said, "Such attacks and incidents of violence originating from across the border are not new. Border guarding must be professional, vigilant and strengthened, with security personnel stationed effectively along the actual border line, as is done in several stretches of the India-Bangladesh border in Assam, West Bengal and Tripura. The Government of India must accord greater attention to the Indo-Myanmar border, particularly in view of the ongoing conflict between the Myanmar military authorities and armed resistance groups."

Chief Minister Yumnam Khemchand Singh condemned the killing of four Tangkhul Naga villagers. Addressing an event in Bishnupur district in the Valley, Singh later said a section of vested interest groups was constantly trying to derail the efforts of his government to restore peace in Manipur.

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Nearly 50 people have been killed in Naga-Kuki conflict since February this year.

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Root of Naga-Kuki conflict in Manipur is fight over territory.

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Nagas claim involvement of Myanmar-based armed Kuki insurgents in the Friday attack.

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Nagas and Kukis demand NRC update to "detect illegal Kuki militants" from Myanmar.

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Meiteis have been demanding fencing of the porous border with Myanmar to prevent cross border crime and unlawful acts.