New Delhi: At least 13 people were killed in a fresh gunfight which broke out between two armed groups in the Tengnoupal district of restive Manipur on Monday, December 4, officials said.
According to the Hindustan Times, officials said they had received inputs around noon of a gunfight between two groups of militants at Leithu village near Saibol in Tengnoupal district.
“The nearest security forces were about 10km away from this place. Once our forces moved in and reached the place, they found 13 bodies in the Leithu village. The forces did not find any weapons next to the bodies,” one of the officials aware of the matter told the newspaper. “The police have reached the spot. They will probe the matter,” the officer added.
The official said that it appeared the dead were not from the Leithu area, and probably, could have come from another place.
Another official quoted by Reuters said the “massive” gunfight left many bodies “with multiple bullet wounds”. The official from the state capital, Imphal, told the news agency that no weapons were found near the bodies. “It could be possible the weapons were looted after they were killed,” the official said, adding that they could not immediately identify the dead or the militant groups.
The northeastern state has been in the grip of ethnic violence starting from May 3, which claimed nearly 180 lives and left nearly 50,000 homeless.
The gunfight in the Tengnoupal district comes just a day after the internet was restored in the state, except for bordering districts. The internet suspension had been lifted four days after the Union government and Manipur government signed a peace agreement in New Delhi with the United National Liberation Force (UNLF), the oldest militant outfit in the state.