Armed men fire at villages in Manipur

A group of armed men, who sneaked from Yaingangpokpi (YKPI) in Manipur’s Imphal East district and moved towards the hills on June 23 afternoon, fired from automatic weapons towards Urangpat and Gwaltabi villages, officials said.

A group of armed men, who sneaked from Yaingangpokpi (YKPI) in Manipur’s Imphal East district and moved towards the hills on June 23 afternoon, fired from automatic weapons towards Urangpat and Gwaltabi villages, officials said.

Security forces columns, which were immediately deployed in these "vacant" villages, responded cautiously to avoid any collateral damage.

However, a large group of women in YKPI and Seijang areas were preventing the movement of additional columns into the area, officials added.

This comes a day after two soldiers were injured when unknown gunmen fired at them at North Boljang in Imphal West district around 5 a. m. on June 22.

During initial search operations by the security forces, one INSAS light machine gun and one INSAS rifle were recovered.

Shots of automatic small arms were also heard near Urangpat, north of YKPI, around 5.45 pm on Wednesday.

More than 100 people have lost their lives in the ethnic violence between Meitei and Kuki communities in the northeastern state so far.