6 Naga civilians killed in separate attacks in Manipur within 48 hours in India
Two Naga men were shot dead and two others injured in Kalenjang village, Senapati district, on the afternoon of 26 September when armed assailants opened fire inside the house of the village headman. The deceased were identified as Rocky Mao and Kumar Poumai; the injured, Adani Manio (33) and Ashiho Sani (49), were taken to a private hospital in Senapati. The attack came barely an hour before the United Naga Council announced its decision to suspend its four-month-old economic blockade along national highways in the state, a move intended to ease pressure on civilians but which has not halted the violence.
Just two days earlier, on the evening of 24 September (with bodies recovered on 25 September), four Tangkhul Naga civilians were killed in a separate shooting near Pilong village in Kamjong district, close to the India–Myanmar border. The victims—Vareishim Jajo (67), his son Phami Jajo (43), Betterson Jajo (50), and Ningthem Kashak (35)—were shot by suspected militants from the Myanmar-based Kuki National Army-Burma (KNA-B), according to local Naga organizations. Police have filed a case but say the allegation has not been independently verified.
Around 40–41 houses were also burned in the Pilong attack, according to local reports, underscoring the scale of destruction in the remote border belt where difficult terrain limits security operations.
Context: widening ethnic conflict
The ethnic violence in Manipur, which began in May 2023 as clashes between Meitei and Kuki communities, expanded in early 2026 to include direct violence between sections of the Naga and Kuki communities. Both the Kalenjang and Pilong incidents are being treated by authorities and community leaders as part of this broader escalation, with Naga student and tribal bodies issuing consecutive condemnations and protest calls over the two attacks.
Former Manipur chief minister N. Biren Singh described the Pilong killings as part of a recurring pattern, stating that “such attacks are not new” and highlighting persistent security concerns along the Myanmar border.
Aftermath and response
- The Tangkhul Naga Long called a 24-hour emergency shutdown in protest over the Pilong killings.
- The All Naga Students’ Association, Manipur (ANSAM) condemned the Kalenjang attack and demanded an immediate investigation and action against those responsible.
- Manipur Chief Minister Yumnam Khemchand Singh visited the Mao area, about 30 km from Kalenjang, on 26 September amid heightened security alerts.
These developments mark one of the deadliest 48-hour periods for Naga civilians in Manipur since the conflict’s 2026 expansion, reinforcing fears of further cross-border militant activity and retaliatory violence.