A lady was killed and her 12-year-old daughter was among nine people injured, including two police officers, in a shooting by “suspected Kuki militants” in Manipur on Sunday, according to separate statements from state police and the Home Department.
Ngangbam Ongbi Surbala, the victim, was shot in her right arm while visiting her mother’s house with her 12-year-old daughter. According to the police, among the injured were two police officers, a local journalist, and other village residents.
The Home Department reported that a man was also killed in the incident, bringing the total number of deaths to two. The attack was carried out using snipers and drone-dropped bombs. The deployment of drones to drop bombs on civilian areas in a state plagued by ethnic strife is a massive, alarming escalation, according to insiders.
The drones were previously suspected of being deployed as spotters, while basic artillery “pumpi guns” fired shells that fell near where the drones flew, creating the impression that the drones dropped the bombs, sources added. However, high sources in the security establishment have confirmed the use of drones to drop bombs, raising the threat to unprecedented heights to security troops and people in the region.
In a statement, the Manipur police condemned the Kuki insurgents for what they called a “significant escalation” employing tactics “commonly used in general warfare”.According to the state home department, such acts of causing “havoc among unarmed villagers” are considered a “attempt to derail the efforts taken by the state government to establish peace in the state”.