Insurgency / Manipur

IMPHAL, May 27: In third such attack, militants struck at the residence of Manipur Urban Development Minister L Nanda Kumar Singh here, but no casualty was reported, official sources said today. Two militants riding a two-wheeler lobbed a bomb at Singh's house at Nagamapal area at 8.30 p.m yesterday.

The minister was not at his house at the time of attack as he was present at his official residence at Lamphel area, 4 kms from here. The bomb fell short of its target and went off near a neighbour's house damaging a portion of it.

The attackers then fled from the spot, the sources said adding...

IMPHAL, May 24 – The Manipur Police is likely to give the finishing touches to the ongoing massive manhunt in the Sajik Tampak area in the Southern Chandel district bordering Myanmar to flush out insurgents. Army troops have been carrying out combing operation since mid-April in and around the Sajik Tempak area, over 100 km south of Imphal near the Indo-Myanmar border. A brigade headquarter of the Army, comprising the 29 Madras Regiment, 7 Sikh light infantry and 9 Rajput Rifles, has been installed at the Chakpikarong area in the southern Chandel district for intensifying their counter...

Imphal, May 23: BJP’s Manipur unit president Th. Chaoba Singh today said he had offered to step down, owning moral responsibility for the party’s poll debacle in the state. The former Union minister of state for youth affairs and sport, who returned here from New Delhi yesterday, said the national leadership of the party had rejected his offer to step down as state unit chief.

He had made the offer to BJP national president M. Venkaiah Naidu in New Delhi after the results of the two Lok Sabha seats of the state were announced. Chaoba Singh said Naidu told him that it was not the right time...

Silchar, May 23: The People’s Liberation Army (PLA) and the United National Liberation Front (UNLF), the two frontline militant organisations of Manipur, have decided stop the two-year-long turf war in Jiribam subdivision of the state. Intelligence sources said this was a major development because both outfits have suffered heavy casualties over the past two years in Jiribam along Cachar district in south Assam.

The organisations have also decided to co-ordinate their operations in the district. However, there were no indications that the joint offensive will cover other parts of Manipur.

The...

IMPHAL, May 20 – Security forces in Manipur are gearing up for a massive combing operation to flush out insurgents who have set up camps in the interior areas of Chandel district bordering Myanmar, official sources said today, reports PTI. Senior security officials have studied satellite maps and topography of hilly and inaccessible places surrounding militant-infested Sajik Tampak areas and Chakpikarong where headquarters of 44th brigade of the army had been set up recently in the district, the sources said.

Army units had also been opened recently at Sugnu, Serou, Sangaikhong and nearby...

IMPHAL, May 18 – Troops of 13 Assam Rifles based in Chandel district under the supervision of Brigadier R N Bhattacharjee, commander of 10 Sector seized a huge quantity of materials belonging to an underground outfit operating in the State.

The seizure of the underground material took place during a search operation conducted by the troops of the 13 Assam Rifles in and around the Phuchong village in Chandel district bordering Myanmar on Sunday, a late report of Press Information Bureau (Defence Wing) said here today.

The statement of the PIB further stated that the search operation...

Imphal, May 12: The proscribed United National Liberation Front (UNLF) today accused the army of disturbing peace in Sajik Tampak in Chandel district of Manipur since it launched counter-insurgency operations there and vowed to “fight to the last”. Reacting to the army’s declaration of continuing its operations, the outfit in a statement said, “The Indian occupational force says they are here to stay. We say we are here to fight to the last.”

The statement, signed by the assistant publicity secretary of the outfit’s central committee, accused the army of scripting fake encounters, executions...

IMPHAL, May 11 – Southern Chandel bordering Myanmar has been plagued by the presence of various insurgent groups which were indulging in anti-national activities which are inimical to both the local population as well as the State. The Army authorities feel that the recent report on Army operation in Chandel district needs to be conveyed to the people in a correct perspective.

Reports of Army likely to use artillery guns and helicopter gun- ships in the operation in Sajik Tampak are incorrect, PIB (Defence wing) source said here. The Army authorities clarified that the basic rules of...

Imphal, May 9: The army today said it would use “minimum force” and not artillery guns or helicopter gunships in its ongoing operation at Sajik Tampak and surrounding areas of Chandel district to flush out militants. Denying media reports of use of artillery guns and helicopter gunships in the operation, a defence release today stated that the basic rule of engagement of the army in counter-insurgency operations was the “use of minimum force”.

The same principle was being applied in Chandel district. Southern Chandel had been plagued by presence of various militant groups. The army...

Imphal, May 7: The army has moved into Sajik Tampak, a small valley in Chandel district that was home to militants belonging to various outfits till April. The insurgents have been displaced from this strategically located valley, not far from the Indo-Myanmar border. Army troops and armoured vehicles have consolidated their positions in the zone.

A full brigade headquarters has been inaugurated at Chakpikarong in Chandel district, 87 km from Imphal. The army has made it clear that it would establish a permanent base here to control activities of militant organisations in Chandel district as...