Guwahati: In the ongoing Kuki-Naga clash, a Kuki-Zo woman was killed and her husband injured in an ambush in Manipur’s Kamjong district on Thursday, while two other civilians from the community remain missing.
Security sources said that the incident took place hours after security forces recovered the severed head of a Naga man killed earlier in Kangpokpi district, amid continuing ethnic violence between Kuki-Zo and Naga groups.
The deceased has been identified as Hatneikim Haokip of Molnoi village, wife of Jangkhongam Haokip. Police said that local villagers and Kuki civil society groups, four civilians—travelling as two couples on two motorcycles—were heading to Phaikoh to buy essential commodities when they were ambushed between about 4 pm and 5 pm.
Hatneikim Haokip died at the spot. Her husband sustained bullet injuries but managed to escape. The other two travellers, identified as D Paokhothang Haokip and his wife Boishi Haokip of Chassad village, remain missing.
Security forces and local villagers have launched a search operation to find the missing couple.
Kuki organisations, including the Kuki Inpi Manipur (KIM) and Kuki-Zo Council (KZC), have condemned the killing and attributed it to cadres of the National Socialist Council of Nagalim (Isak-Muivah faction). They described the attack as targeting unarmed civilians and demanded an impartial investigation, the arrest of those responsible, and the tracing of the missing couple. Police have confirmed an ambush of four civilians by suspected militants in the area but details continue to be verified.
The latest incident has taken the reported number of Kuki-Zo women killed in the Kuki-Naga clashes to 10, including two who were pregnant.
In a related development, late on Wednesday night a joint team of the Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) and Manipur Police recovered the severed head of 52-year-old Ajinbou Ringkamai in an isolated area near the site of an October 10 attack on Makui Ashang village in Kangpokpi district. He was one of four Naga men killed in that incident, attributed to suspected Kuki militants. His head had been severed and remained missing; the headless body had been taken to Jawaharlal Nehru Institute of Medical Sciences (JNIMS) in Imphal on October 11.
The recovery followed a 48-hour ultimatum issued by the Joint Tribes Council Manipur, a Naga organisation representing communities including Inpui, Liangmai, Rongmei and Zeme, which had demanded the head’s return to allow a proper funeral and had suspended post-mortem examinations. The head was brought to JNIMS on Thursday morning for autopsy, after which post-mortems of Ringkamai and another victim proceeded. Naga bodies have continued to press for the arrest of individuals they have named in connection with the October 10 killings.
Security forces remain deployed in the affected hill districts. Civil society groups on both sides have called for stronger action to protect civilians and restore order.
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