New Delhi, Sept. 14 -- Imphal; Four abandoned Naga homes were set ablaze in Khedaghar in ethnic violence-hit Manipur's Tamenglong district on Sunday evening, hours after four Kuki civilians, including two women, were killed in separate attacks in Tamenglong and Noney districts, officials said on Monday.
The houses, located around 27 km from the district headquarters, were torched by unidentified arsonists, officials said. No casualties were reported as the Naga residents had left weeks earlier amid fears of retaliation and heightened tensions between the two communities.
The four Kuki civilians were killed in two separate incidents on Sunday. At around 4 am, suspected militants attacked Tollen Kuki village near NH-37, which connects Imphal with Jiribam, killing Lhingjangai Singsit and injuring her husband Seineih Singsit and their infant son. Seineih later succumbed to his injuries while being taken to a hospital in Silchar, Assam.
In another attack around 3:30 pm, a woman and a man were shot dead at Longpi village under Nungba police station limits. They were identified as Julie Gangte and R Gangte, police said.
The killings coincided with "Sahnit Ni" or "Black Day", observed annually on September 13 by the Kuki community to remember victims of ethnic violence during the Kuki-Naga conflict in Manipur in the 1990s.
Manipur Home Minister Govindas Konthoujam condemned the violence, saying no act of violence would be allowed to derail the state's path towards peace and normalcy. He said authorities had been directed to ascertain the facts, identify those responsible and ensure that the law took its course.
The Kuki-Zo Council also condemned the killings and alleged that more than 22 Kuki-Zo community members, including women and children, had been killed by Naga armed groups operating in Manipur since the beginning of 2026. It urged the Centre to act decisively against armed groups and warned that continued violence could push the state towards another full-scale conflict.
Three Kuki legislators also condemned the attacks and called for the perpetrators to be identified and arrested.
The Kuki-Zo Council criticised political and civil society leaders for their alleged unwillingness to pursue meaningful reconciliation and dialogue.
The ethnic conflict that erupted in May 2023 between valley-based Meitei and hill-based Kuki communities has claimed at least 306 lives, with 49 people still missing and thousands displaced amid renewed tensions between the two communities.
Published by HT Digital Content Services with permission from Millennium Post.