A soldier from the Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) was killed on Sunday in an ambush in Jiribam district in Manipur.
The attack occurred in Mongbung village in Jiribam and is suspected to have been carried out by Kuki militants, according to CNN-News 18.
Manipur has been in the grips of ethnic violence between the state’s majority Meitei and minority tribal communities. Several hundreds have been killed in the conflict and as many as 67,000 have been displaced in the ongoing conflict. The state has seen sharp polarisation between the valley-based Meitis and hill-based tribals.
In a post on X (formerly Twitter), Manipur Chief Minister N Biren Singh condemned the killing and said offered condolences to the family of the deceased.
The deceased CRPF soldier has been identified as Ajay Kumar Jha, 43, from Bihar, according to the report.
Separately, India Today has reported three CRPF soldiers and three Manipur Police personnel were also injured in the attack. It further reported that the attack took place around 9:40 am when a joint team of CRPF and police was going to a village in the area.
In recent weeks, Jiribam has been enveloped in cyclic violence as the tribals and the Meiteis have carried out a string of attacks on each-other. Earlier this week, the house of Seijathang Khangsai, a prominent Kuki tribal leader, was burnt in the district. Before that, a Meitei man was found dead, following which the locals indulged in violence protests. The violence continued as several houses belonging to Meiteis were burnt again in four-five villages.
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