Unknown extremists launched coordinated attacks on four Liangmai Naga villages along Manipur's Imphal-Tamenglong Road Tuesday, critically injuring a local pastor and torching multiple homes. The assault comes less than 24 hours after three Kuki villagers were killed in the same area, deepening the region's ethnic tensions.

Key facts

  • Four Liangmai Naga villages attacked in Kangpokpi district
  • Pastor Luithuibou Newmai shot and critically injured
  • Houses torched during coordinated armed assaults
  • 24-hour general strike paralyses Imphal Valley

Who carried out the attacks?

The Working Committee of the Tangkhul Naga Long, the community's apex body, pointed fingers squarely at Kuki militant groups. They claim the Kuki National Front-Presidential executed the attacks alongside the Kuki National Army, led by Jangboi Kipgen—who also serves as home secretary of the United People's Front umbrella organization.

What makes this allegation particularly charged: these groups operate under a Suspension of Operation agreement with the central government. The TNL's statement crackled with frustration at what they called the government's "inability to rein in" these armed factions.

A pattern of violence

This isn't isolated violence. The TNL says Liangmai Nagas have endured "constant attack from Kuki extremists for the past few months." They describe a disturbing pattern: armed offensives intended to force demographic changes and establish Kuki hegemony over ancestral Naga lands.

"The landless Kukis are utilising and employing this pattern of attacks to establish their hegemony over the ancestral land of the Nagas by uprooting us from our homes," the TNL stated.

Political tensions compound crisis

Even as violence flared in Kangpokpi, normal life froze across Imphal Valley's five districts. The Campaign for Justice and Fair Delimitation enforced a 24-hour general strike, demanding the government prepare a National Register of Citizens before conducting the Census.

Protesters blocked roads, shuttered businesses, and halted public transport—defying both state government appeals and the Centre's last-minute decision to defer the Census exercise. The organization insisted they needed formal gazette notification of the deferment before calling off their action.

Manipur now faces twin crises: armed conflict in its villages and political paralysis in its cities, with no clear path toward resolution.