Suspected Kuki militants fire several rounds towards a temple of the Meitei community in Manipur’s Imphal East district. No one was injured, police sources said. Attack came on a day Manipur Governor Ajay Kumar Bhalla extended the one-week deadline for people from all communities to deposit looted and illegally held weapons till March 6. The valley-dominant MeiteI community and over a dozen distinct tribes collectively known as Kuki, have been fighting for nearly two years over a range of issues such as land rights and political representation. Over 250 have been killed and 50,000 have been internally displaced in the clashes over land rights, political representation and land rights. The Arambai Tenggol (AT) handed over 300 firearms to the police, following the Governor’s call to do so, on Friday. The temple was vandalised by suspected Kuki insurgents after ethnic clashes broke out in May 2023. The attack at the temple some 22 km from the state capital Imphal, a joint team of the police and the Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) combed the nearby hills, residents from nearby villages who went to the temple told reporters.
