The drones used to bomb two Meitei-dominated villages in Imphal West district in Manipur on September 1 were likely assembled locally and ammunition looted from police armouries were used in the attack, a government source told The Hindu.
The source said the “unprovoked offensive” from the drones was launched from the Kuki-Zo inhabited areas in the hills interlaced with mortar firing.
The source added that recently the security forces have been given clear instructions from the Union government to shoot anyone trying to cross the ‘buffer zone’ between the valley and hill areas to launch an attack.
“A large number of civilians in the valley and the hills have guns. Since armed people in the hills were finding it difficult to come close to the buffer zones as shoot-at-sight orders are in place, they used drones to drop the ammunition on Meitei villages. They are claiming that this was done to prevent a planned ambush by Meitei radical group Arambai Tenggol, which is uncorroborated,” the source said.
The Kuki Inpi, an apex body of the Kuki tribes, said it was a “calculated attempt to ambush Kuki-Zo civilians”, which led to a heavy exchange of fire between Meitei groups and Kuki-Zo volunteers. Two persons, including a woman, were killed in the September 1 attack on Koutruk and Kadangband villages in Imphal West district, bordering Kuki-Zo dominated Kangpokpi district.
Director General of Police Rajiv Singh visited Kadangband village on Tuesday where a local alleged that a Border Security Force (BSF) team deployed there “locked them” inside their camp and refused to fire in retaliation despite multiple pleas. A source in the BSF said that a platoon was deployed in the village to provide security to workers engaged in constructing barracks and they were not part of the regular troop deployment.
“The Central Reserve Police Force and Manipur Rifles are deployed there and they retaliated promptly,” the BSF source said.
Rajkumar Imo Singh, a Bharatiya Janata Party MLA and son-in-law of Manipur Chief Minister N. Biren Singh, on Monday questioned the role of Central forces who “are mostly present as mute spectators”, adding that the deployment of 60,000 personnel in Manipur was not yielding peace and sought their withdrawal.
Former Assam Rifles Director General Lt. Gen. (retd.) Pradeep Chandran Nair said the use of drones against civilians was first noticed in August 2021 in neighbouring Myanmar, in areas bordering Mizoram, not far from south Manipur. Assam Rifles is the primary border guarding force along Myanmar.
“Incidentally, as of now, except two pockets (Moreh and Ukhrul), all areas opposite Manipur border are in the control of People’s Defence Force (PDF) and not the Myanmar military. They could be selling arms and even drones for money. Besides, insurgents belonging to many groups active in the Northeast, including Valley Based Insurgent Groups (banned Meitei group) and those of the Chin-Kuki ethnicity operate in Myanmar,” Lt. Gen. Nair, who retired on July 31, said.
PDF is the armed wing of the National Unity Government, an alternative establishment that was formed after the military coup in February 2021.
The ethnic violence between the tribal Kuki-Zo and the Meitei people in Manipur since May 3, 2023, have claimed 226 lives and displaced more than 60,000 people.
