On the morning of June 4, 20 soldiers of the 6th Dogra infantry regiment of the Indian Army were killed in an ambush not far from the India-Myanmar border in Manipur’s Chandel district.
While militant-related violence has been on the rise in India’s northeast in recent weeks, this one was exceptionally daring and gruesome. The gunmen, who are now suspected to be insurgents belonging to the Meitei militant outfit Kanglei Yawol Kanna Lup (KYKL) and the National Socialist Council of Nagaland (Khaplang), rained rocket-propelled grenades on a convoy of four army vehicles, carrying approximately over three dozen soldiers, at a section of the Samtal Road. If reports are to be believed, ‘daos’ (or machetes) were used to finish the job. A dozen injured soldiers were airlifted for emergency medical care.
Three militant groups – KYKL, NSCN(K) and Kangleipak Communist Party – have owned up to the attack. But the desperation, according to a security expert, points to the possible fallout of the breakdown of ceasefire talks between New Delhi and the NSCN(K), headed by the Burmese Naga, S S Khaplang.
“If you fail to continue the ceasefire, you have to be prepared for the fire. The alternative to ceasefire is only to fight,” the official, who requested anonymity, said.