A Meitei man offering prayers was killed in a rocket attack by Kuki insurgents
Imphal/New Delhi:
An elderly man who was performing prayers was killed in a rocket-propelled bomb attack by Kuki insurgents in Manipur's Moirang town on Monday, police said. Five other people, including a 13-year-old girl, were injured in the attack on the lakeside town in Bishnupur district, 35 km from the state capital Imphal. This was the second child to be injured in drone and rocket attacks by Kuki insurgents in the past five days.
Today's rocket hit the house of Manipur's first Chief Minister Mairembam Koireng Singh, just 100 metres from the Indian National Army (INA) Museum in the heart of Moirang town on the banks of the Northeast's largest freshwater lake, Loktak.
The INA Museum is dedicated to Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose; the town of Moirang is where the INA flag was first unfurled on 14 April 1944 on Indian soil. Mairembam Koireng Singh was a freedom fighter and part of the INA. He went to jail after World War II and later became the Chief Minister of Manipur.
According to sources, the INA Museum was the likely target of the rocket attack. Residents said the rocket came from the direction of the hills.
Meitei community elder RK Rabei, 78, was praying when shrapnel from the rocket hit his head, locals said. He died on the spot, with blood dripping on the ground near the prayer items, such as leaves and fruit, that he had collected. He was wearing a white T-shirt. Judei (to Dhoti-like a Meiteis cloth) and a white shawl.
The Manipur government has announced the closure of all schools tomorrow due to rocket and drone threats.
The town of Moirang in Bishnupur district of Manipur is home to the largest freshwater lake in the northeast, Loktak.
According to police, this was the second rocket attack by Kuki insurgents in the same district today, after two rockets were fired from an elevated position in the nearby hills in the neighbouring Kuki-dominated Churachandpur district this morning. No one was hurt in the morning attack, although two structures were damaged, according to police.
The range of the rockets that hit the valley area this morning is estimated to have been more than 3 kilometers, police said.
Police said Kuki insurgents also fired several times from the hills towards Bishnupur district, prompting security forces to retaliate.
On Thursday evening, residents of Kumbi village near Tronglaobi reported seeing several drones.
Two people were killed and nine, including a 12-year-old girl, injured in drone attacks and firing by “suspected Kuki insurgents” on Sunday. The injured girl was the daughter of one of the two who was shot in the head. Three others were injured in a drone bomb attack in Senjam Chirang, Manipur, on Monday.
Senior intelligence sources have confirmed the use of armed drones and long-range sniper rifles in the attack on the village of Koutruk on Sunday.
Sunday's attack was also the first recorded use of drones to drop bombs on civilians by suspected insurgents in India.
In Imphal valley, people took to the streets in protest demanding swift military action against Kuki insurgents hiding in fortified bunkers in the hills.
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