Armed clashes between rival ethnic groups in India’s restive northeastern state of Manipur have killed three men, police said, marking the latest wave of violence in the remote region.
For nearly three years now, clashes between the predominantly Hindu Meitei majority and the predominantly Christian Kuki community have reverberated through Manipur, killing more than 250 people.
– In a fierce exchange of fire… three persons sustained fatal gunshot wounds – the Manipur police said in a statement issued late on Friday.
Clashes broke out in Mullam village in Ukhrul district, and the police did not specify which community the dead men belonged to.
– Security measures have been strengthened in the area in order to prevent further escalation of violence – said the police.
“Operations are still ongoing.”
The long-standing enmity between the Meitei and Kuki communities is based on competition for land and public sector jobs.
Human rights activists accuse local leaders of further deepening ethnic divisions for political gain.
The unrest broke out in 2023, when some 60,000 people were forced to flee their homes, according to government figures.
The situation then calmed down somewhat, but earlier this month four people, including two children, were killed during an attack by a Kuki group, after which a Meitei crowd attacked a paramilitary camp.
On Thursday, 249 Indians from the northeastern states of Manipur and Mizoram – members of the Bnei Menashe community, who claim descent from one of Israel’s “lost tribes” – arrived in Tel Aviv.
It is the first group to arrive after the Israeli government decided in November to finance the immigration of about 6,000 members of this community.
Their oral tradition tells of a centuries-long exodus through Persia, Afghanistan, Tibet and China, during which they retained certain Jewish religious customs, such as circumcision.
(Vijesti.ba)
