Four abandoned Naga homes were set on fire at Khedaghar in ethnic violence-hit Manipur’s Tamenglong district on Sunday evening in a retaliatory attack hours after four Kukis were killed in separate attacks earlier that day, officials said on Monday. Officials said unidentified arsonists set the houses around 27 km from the district headquarters on fire, and no casualties were reported, as the Nagas had left their homes weeks ago fearing Kuki retaliation amid heightened tensions between the two communities.
A couple was among the four Kukis killed in Manipur’s Tamenglong district on Sunday while a six-year-old sustained a bullet injury. On Monday, the Kuki-Zo Council (KZC), a Kuki-Zo apex civil body, condemned the attacks in Tollen and Longpi. Her husband Seineh Singsit succumbed to bullet injuries. In the second attack, a man and a woman were killed in Longpi village. No groups have claimed responsibility for the attacks. It added that in Longpi, Julie Gangte, a pregnant woman, and Thangvel Roel Gangte, the only son of his family, were killed, while Nei Esther sustained critical injuries. The state’s Meitei and Kuki-Zo communities have shut each other out of the areas they dominate. A new government was formed in February, nearly a year after the imposition of President’s Rule. It includes representatives from all three major communities as part of an attempt to maintain balance.
“The district has only one remote Naga village, Baiboni, around 30 km from headquarters. There are around 20 houses, and a permanent platoon of CRPF is stationed there. A column of 38 AR [Assam Rifles] is also stationed at Muolzol Kuki village, almost three km from Baiboni. Police said 46-year-old Lhingzangai Singsit was shot dead on the spot in the first attack around 5.30am at Tollen village. The council said Naga leaders demand justice for six Nagas killed in May but remain silent over the 22 Kuki-Zos, including women and children, whom Naga armed groups have reportedly killed since the beginning of 2026. The ethnic violence in Manipur first began in 2023 between the Meitei and Kuki communities before involving almost every community. But sporadic violence has continued and left 306 people dead and 49 missing since May 2023.
An officer requesting anonymity said security forces, including the Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF), dominated the area and residents had fled. It said a Tollen couple was killed and their six-year-old son sustained a gunshot injury to his hand, reportedly leaving it nearly severed.
