The tenuous peace in the northeast was shattered over the weekend after a botched Indian Army security operation led to the death of six innocent civilians on Saturday, 4 December.
In an apparent case of “mistaken identity”, a counter-insurgency team of 21 Para Special Forces ambushed a vehicle carrying coal workers in Nagaland’s Oting village in Mon district. But the situation derailed further from this point after hundreds from a nearby village attacked the army team. This led to the clash between the two sides, leading to the death of seven more civilians and one jawan.
But that was not the end of the flare-up between the two sides. Fresh violence erupted the next day as well with dozens of protesters attacking the Assam Rifles camp in Mon in protest of the killings and clashed with the army again. Unfortunately, one more civilian died and several more were injured. In purported videos on social media, gunfire could be heard.