NEW DELHI: Five people were killed in two separate incidents in India’s northeastern state of Manipur, police said, as fresh ethnic violence erupted in the conflict-hit region.
Three men from the Kuki tribal group were killed in an exchange of gunfire between “unidentified armed miscreants” in the state’s Noney district on Saturday, according to a police statement, cited by Indian media.
The bodies of two other men from the same community, who had gone missing earlier this week, were recovered in Kangpokpi district on Sunday morning after security personnel launched a search operation, a second police statement said.
Manipur: Five Kukis Killed in 24 Hours as Naga-Kuki Tensions Escalate

The ethnic conflict between the Kukis and the Nagas began in February this year and more than 50 people have been killed so far.
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A top Kuki tribal body blamed Naga separatist outfits for the killings, describing them as a “direct unprovoked assault . . . in their homeland.”
The killings came amid mass protests attended by hundreds of thousands of people in the state capital Imphal and other areas, demanding the abrogation of a ceasefire arrangement between Kuki armed groups and the Indian state.
Thousands from indigenous communities like the Meitei and Naga protested across Manipur demanding government accountability and peace. Key demands include scrapping the SoO agreement, withdrawing Assam Rifles, implementing the 1951 NRC, and safely resettling displaced families, alongside calls for Deputy CM Nemcha Kipgen’s removal amid ongoing ethnic violence.
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The predominantly Christian Kuki and Naga tribes have a long history of conflict over competing claims to ethnic homelands in the remote northeastern state. The latest fighting erupted after a Naga man was allegedly assaulted by men from the Kuki community in February this year.
The killing of three Kuki pastors in May, allegedly by Naga armed groups, triggered a series of retaliatory abductions and killings by both sides.
The latest Kuki-Naga clashes have added to tensions in Manipur, where the Kuki community is also embroiled in a bloody ethnic conflict with the mainly Hindu Meitei community that began in May 2023 over economic benefits and job quotas.
More than 60,000 people displaced by the conflict continue to live in temporary shelters.
As per the local government of Manipur, at least 306 people have been killed, and 49 others reported missing in the ethnic violence that broke out in the state in May 2023.
In one of Manipur’s largest public demonstrations since ethnic violence erupted in 2023, thousands of people took to the streets of Imphal on October 31, demanding an end to the prolonged conflict, justice for victims and the safe return of thousands of families displaced from their homes.
Protesters accused the Centre of facilitating a “proxy war” against indigenous communities. They also demanded the withdrawal of Assam Rifles from certain areas, stronger security measures and the rehabilitation of displaced families.
