Ten Militants Killed in Clashes with Security Forces in Manipur’s Jiribam District

In a violent escalation of the ongoing conflict in Manipur, security forces killed ten suspected militants on Monday in the Jiribam district, marking the highest single-day casualty toll in the state this year. The incident, which left one CRPF jawan injured, occurred at Jakuradhor Karong near the hills of neighboring Pherzawl district, an area with a significant Hmar community population. Hmar groups claimed that the deceased were all from their community.

According to police sources, the violence began early Monday morning around 4 a.m., when militants launched attacks on various locations, including Meitei settlements at Lamtai Khunou and Jakuradhor Karong, targeting shops. The violence continued throughout the day, culminating in an assault around 3 p.m. on a CRPF post and the Borobekra police station nearby.

“Today, the CRPF post located at Jakuradhor and Borobekra police station were attacked by armed militants. The security forces retaliated strongly,” read a statement from Manipur Police. CRPF constable Sanjeev Kumar was injured in the attack and was later transferred to Silchar Medical College in Assam for treatment.

Security forces responded to the assault with a heavy exchange of fire lasting approximately 45 minutes. Following the encounter, a search of the area yielded the bodies of ten suspected militants along with a cache of weapons, including three AK-47 rifles, four SLRs, two INSAS rifles, and one rocket-propelled grenade. Authorities have filed a criminal case and launched an investigation into the incident.

In response to the attack, the Jiribam district administration issued indefinite prohibitory orders under Section 163, banning the assembly of more than five people and carrying of weapons, citing threats to peace and public safety from anti-social elements.

The violence in Jiribam comes days after a 31-year-old Hmar woman was killed in a nearby village. A statement by the Hmar Village Volunteers (HVVs), a group representing armed Hmars, claimed the militants killed Monday were “village volunteers” who had retaliated in response to her death. The HVVs alleged that Meitei militants were sheltering in Jiribam and called their actions a defense of indigenous Hmar communities.

Elsewhere in Manipur, violence also continued as two people sustained injuries in separate attacks in Imphal East and Bishnupur districts. In Imphal East, a Tangkhul Naga man was injured in an attack by suspected Kuki militants while he was harvesting crops. Another man was injured in Bishnupur district in an attack believed to have come from the Dampi hill range.

Amid escalating tensions, communities in Kuki-Zo majority districts, including Churachandpur and Kangpokpi, have called for a shutdown in protest of the killings in Jiribam.