40 insurgents shot dead by security forces: Manipur CM
At least 40 armed terrorists suspected to be from Kuki militant outfits have been killed in the northeastern Indian state of Manipur as security forces continued a crackdown in the past 3-4 days, state Chief Minister N Biren Singh said today.
Separately, at least two persons were killed and 12 injured today in fresh clashes between security forces and armed militants in several areas of Manipur, officials said.
However, Hindustan Times reported four civilians and a security man were killed in these clashes.
"The security personnel are conducting operations in vulnerable areas. In retaliatory and defensive operations against these terrorist groups which are using sophisticated arms against the civilian population, around 40 terrorists have been killed in different areas and a few arrested by the security forces," Singh told the media in Imphal, capital town of Manipur.
The chief minister said today's fresh violence does not involve two communities but between armed terrorists and security forces, he added.
The clashes today came a day ahead of Indian Home Minister Amit Shah's planned visit to Manipur where he is expected to take stock of the security situation, reports our New Delhi correspondent.
Today's clashes erupted in the early hours after the army commenced combing operations to disarm communities in a bid to restore peace, officials said.
The house of the state's ruling BJP legislator Khwairakpam Raghumani Singh at Uripok in Imphal West was vandalised and his two vehicles set on fire, a top security official told PTI.
There had been cases of armed militants firing at civilians with AK-47s, M-16s and sniper rifles, he said, adding these militants were targeted by security forces in counter-attacks.
Singh said many Kuki militants involved in killing civilians and destroying property and torching houses have been captured by the security forces.
He said clashes broke out in the early hours of the morning at several places in different districts surrounding the Imphal Valley both between militant groups and security forces as well as between rival ethnic militant groups.
Ethnic clashes have claimed over 75 lives since they first broke out in Manipur after a "Tribal Solidarity March" was organised in the hill districts on May 3 to protest against the non-tribal Meitei community's demand for Scheduled Tribe (ST) status, reports our New Delhi correspondent.
The violence was preceded by tension over the eviction of Kuki villagers from reserve forest land, which had led to a series of smaller agitations.
Meiteis account for about 53 percent of Manipur's population and live mostly in the Imphal Valley. Tribal Nagas and Kukis constitute another 40 percent of Manipur's population.
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