The attacks took place in Noney and Tamenglong districts.
| Photo Credit: ANI
Unidentified gunmen killed four civilians from the Kuki-Zo community, including two women, in two separate incidents in Manipur on Sunday (September 13, 2026).
Although no armed group claimed responsibility, Kuki-Zo organisations blamed the attacks on the National Socialist Council of Nagalim, or NSCN (Isak-Muivah), and the Zeliangrong United Front (Kamson).
Kuki-Zo organisations said the first attack was carried out around 4 a.m. at Tollen village in Tamenglong district. One Seineh Singsit and his wife Lhingzangai were killed, and their six-year-old son was injured.
The woman died on the spot, while her husband succumbed to his injuries at a nearby hospital. The minor is undergoing treatment with a bullet reportedly lodged inside his body.
The second incident occurred around 3 p.m. at Longpi village in Noney district. Local residents said the gunmen ambushed three persons transporting rice, killing two of them on the spot.
The deceased were identified as Julie Gangte and Thangroel Gangte. The third person, a woman, was reported missing.
Condemning the first attack, the Kuki Inpi JTN (Jiribam, Tamenglong, and Noney districts) said in a statement, “This inhuman act is not merely an attack on one family; it is an affront to humanity itself. Kuki Inpi JTN stands in solidarity with the bereaved family and calls for justice to be delivered without delay.”
The Western Village Volunteer (Jiribam, Tamenglong, and Noney), a Kuki-Zo organisation, demanded that the killers be identified, apprehended, and brought to justice within 24 hours. It warned that failing to ensure timely justice would compel it to “unleash all its anger to the perpetrators”.
Manipur Chief Minister Yumnam Khemchand Singh has expressed deep anguish over the killings. He said that such cowardly acts of violence against innocent civilians were unacceptable and have no place in society. The Chief Minister extended his condolences to the grieving families, praying for strength to the bereaved and a speedy recovery for the injured.
Appeal against shutdown
Meanwhile, the Manipur government appealed to the Campaign for Justice and Fair Delimitation to withdraw its ongoing shutdown of Central and State government offices to push for its demand to update the National Register of Citizens (NRC).
Government spokespersons Th. Radheyshyam and Sapam Ranjan Singh, both MLAs, said the campaign should not “add more misery to the sufferings and inconveniences” of the people of Manipur, who “also want the NRC to be conducted” before the Census exercise.
The government suggested that the campaign’s decision to intensify the pro-NRC agitation was unjust after the Union Ministry of Home Affairs postponed the Census process in Manipur. The spokespersons also pointed out that the Manipur Assembly favoured 1951 as the base year for updating the NRC, as most Manipur inhabitants wanted.
Published – September 13, 2026 12:32 pm IST
