At least 25 houses and temporary refugee shelters were destroyed after alleged Kuki militants launched a coordinated attack on two Tangkhul Naga settlements along the Indo-Myanmar border in Manipur’s Kamjong district on Wednesday, according to the Eastern Command of the Naga Village Guard (NVG), The Dawn Tantak reported.
In a statement, the NVG described the incident as a “premeditated cross-border offensive” and alleged that the attack was carried out by Kuki militants in collusion with the Kuki National Army-Burma (KNA-B).
According to the NVG, the violence began around 1.30 pm when abandoned houses at Phaimol, a Kuki village under Kamjong subdivision, were allegedly set on fire to create a pretext for launching attacks on Huimin Thana and Kherongram, a hamlet of Nampisha village.
The organisation claimed that about 20 armed militants crossed the Namya River from Phaikoh village near Border Pillar No. 102 before attacking the two Naga settlements. Villagers reportedly fled to safety before the attackers torched seven houses in Huimin Thana and 13 houses in Kherongram.
The NVG further alleged that 20 temporary shelters established in Kherongram in 2023 to accommodate 365 refugees displaced by political unrest in Myanmar were also destroyed in the fire, leaving the displaced families without shelter.
Drawing parallels with earlier incidents, the organisation claimed the latest attack followed a pattern similar to the burning of Lanchah village before the alleged cross-border attacks on the Tangkhul Naga villages of Z Choro, Wanglee and Namlee on May 7 this year.
The NVG also questioned how the alleged attack could take place despite the presence of security personnel, including the Assam Rifles, Border Security Force (BSF), Indian Reserve Battalion (IRB) and Manipur Police, who it said are stationed at Kherongram adjacent to Huimin Thana.
Condemning the incident, the Eastern Command of the NVG urged Tangkhul Naga villages along the international border to remain on maximum alert and maintain heightened vigilance against what it described as repeated militant offensives.
Reaffirming its commitment to protect the “land, identity and people” of the Naga community, the organisation warned that any future threats would be met with “stronger measures without compromise.”
The allegations made by the NVG could not be independently verified. There was no immediate response from the security forces or the organisations named in the statement at the time of filing this report. (With inputs from The Dawn Tantak)