Six security personnel of the 29 Assam Rifles, including a Junior Commissioned Officer, were killed when militants ambushed their convoy in Chandel district of Manipur, close to the Myanmar border, on Sunday afternoon.
No outfit has so far claimed responsibility. But it is believed to have been carried out by CorCom (Coordination Committee), the umbrella group formed by a group of banned underground organisations.
According to the Terrorism Research & Analysis Consortium, the CorCom comprises Kangleipak Communist Party, Kanglei Yawol Kanna Lup, People’s Revolutionary Party of Kangleipak and its faction PREPAK-Pro, Revolutionary People’s Front – the political wing of the People’s Liberation Army), United National Liberation Front and United Peoples Party of Kangleipak.
Official sources said the convoy was attacked around 1 p.m. when returning to Joupi camp after inspecting a landslide. The bombs went off on the mountain road near Holenjang village. Security personnel engaged the militants in a gun battle. It was not immediately known if the attackers suffered any casualty in the hour-long exchange of fire. Additional forces have been rushed to the ambush site to launch combing operations.
Soon after the incident, Home Minister Rajnath Singh tweeted: “Spoke to DG, Assam Rifles, who apprised me of the situation in Manipur. Ministry of Home Affairs is closely monitoring the situation in the State.”
