2 Assam Rifles personnel killed, 5 Injured in Manipur ambush

Guwahati: Two Assam Rifles personnel were killed and five others wounded when unidentified gunmen opened fire on a convoy Friday evening in Manipur’s Bishnupur district, underscoring a fresh security crisis in Manipur.

Defence PRO L Col M Rawat said that around 5.50 pm, a vehicle carrying troops of 33 Assam Rifles, was moving on the National highway 2, close to the airport “in a denotified area”, which refers to areas where AFSPA is not in force, when bullets rained on them.

“In general area, Nambol Sabal Leikai, the column was ambushed by unidentified terrorists on the highway. In the ensuing action, two personnel of Assam Rifles were killed in action and five were injured who have since been evacuated to RIMS (Regional Institute of Medical Sciences, Imphal) and are currently stable,” Rawat said, adding that no group has claimed responsibility. Search operations were ongoing to apprehend the terrorists involved in the incident.

MHA has excluded areas under 13 police stations in the five valley districts of Imphal West, Imphal East, Thoubal, Bishnupur, and Kakching from the purview of AFSPA.

Without AFSPA, neither Army nor Assam Rifles can carry out counter insurgency operations. The deceased have been moved to the RIMS mortuary.

Manipur governor Ajay Kumar Bhalla has strongly condemned the deadly ambush on security forces, expressing deep sorrow over the loss of lives. Reaffirming the state’s commitment to law and order, Bhalla stated that such heinous acts of violence will not be tolerated under any circumstances and warned that they will be met with the strongest resolve to uphold peace and stability in the region.

Former CM N Biren Singh visited the injured Assam Rifles personnel. In a post on X, he expressed deep sorrow, stating, “The loss of two jawans and injuries to several others is a cruel blow to us all” and added that “The perpetrators of this heinous crime must face the harshest punishment.”

A similar ambush had occurred in Jiribam district, near Assam’s Cachar border in 2024, where a CRPF jawan was killed.

This is not the first time Assam Rifles personnel have come under attack in Manipur. In November 2021, a deadly ambush in Churachandpur district claimed the lives of Col Viplav Tripathi, his wife and six-year-old son, along with four jawans of the 46 Assam Rifles.

The convoy was returning from the Behiang post near the Indo-Myanmar border when militants from the People’s Liberation Army (PLA) and Manipur Naga People’s Front (MNPF) opened fire. The incident shocked the nation and led to a high-level investigation by the National Investigation Agency (NIA).