Manipur Chief Minister Nongthombam Biren Singh on Tuesday (September 3, 2024) said using drones to drop bombs on civilians was an act of terrorism.
His statement on X came after two recent incidents of “drone attacks” by extremists on as many villages in the State’s Imphal West district. Two people were killed and 12 others, including a television journalist, were injured in these attacks.
Also read: Fresh violence in Manipur, 2 killed in gunfight, drone attack
“Dropping of bombs on civilian population and security forces by using drones is an act of terrorism and I condemn such cowardly acts in the strongest terms. Manipur State government takes such unprovoked assault with utmost seriousness and will take up necessary response to fight such forms of terrorism upon the indigenous population,” Mr. Biren Singh said after touring the villages under attack on September 2.
“We denounce all forms of violence, and the people of Manipur shall unite together against hate, division, and separatism,” he added.
In June, The Hindu reported that extremist and radical groups on either side of the ethnic divide in Manipur were acquiring drones and drone parts to — as the security forces feared — add a new dimension to their conflict.
The Assam police had conveyed the concern to their Manipur counterparts after seizing intelligent flight batteries and other drone parts from supply agents and associates of Manipur-based extremists belonging to both warring communities – the Kuki-Zo and the Meitei.
The ethnic conflict between these two communities began on May 3, 2023, killing more than 220 people and displacing about 60,000 others. Almost all the displaced have since been living in relief camps.
