Kangpokpi: On Wednesday, October 7, three houses belonging to Kuki residents were allegedly set ablaze in Kailenjang village in Kangpokpi district by Kacha-Naga terrorist NSCN-IM, ZUF-K and Tangkhul volunteers, while heavy gunfire was reported in the area between Kuki volunteers and Kacha-Naga terrorist groups, triggering fresh security concerns in the largely deserted fringe settlement. According to villagers who fled the spot, armed cadres entered the village in the morning hours, set the houses on fire one after another and fired indiscriminately towards Kuki village volunteers who were guarding the settlement. The village has been largely deserted since March 2026 after repeated attacks by Kacha-Naga terrorists.
Security officials confirmed the burning of the three houses in Kailenjang. No casualties have been reported in the latest incident, officials said. Central forces deployed in the buffer zone between Kangpokpi and Ukhrul rushed to the spot after gunfire was reported and brought the situation under control. The forces are now conducting area domination and have tightened security in and around Kailenjang, Thowai, Sinakeithel and Litan areas. The remaining Kuki families have been asked not to return until the area is fully secured.
According to Kuki village authorities and local sources, the arson in Kailenjang is not an isolated incident but part of a continuous campaign of terror unleashed by India sponsored Kacha-Naga terrorist NSCN-IM and ZUF-K against Kuki civilians living on the Ukhrul-Kangpokpi fringe. Villagers alleged that since March 2026, these terrorist groups along with Tangkhul volunteers have been attacking Kuki villages, burning houses, destroying paddy fields and farm huts and firing upon civilians to forcibly evict Kukis from Ukhrul district. Kailenjang, which had only a few families staying back to guard homes and livestock, was targeted again on Wednesday.
Kuki village authorities have alleged that more than 28 Kuki civilians including pregnant women and 3 pastors have been killed in the year 2026 alone by Kacha-Naga terrorist NSCN-IM and ZUF-K in Kangpokpi, Ukhrul, Tamenglong, Kamjong and Noney districts. They said women, elderly persons and church leaders were deliberately targeted, homes and farms were burnt and livestock looted. The families of the victims are still waiting for justice and compensation. The bodies of many victims have not been allowed to be taken to their native villages due to security threats on the roads.
The bias and selective justice of the Government of India has been exposed again in Manipur, community leaders alleged. They said the bias and selective Government of India has not arrested even 1 person in connection with the Kuki civilian killings since 1990 till this day by NSCN-IM terrorist that killed more than 1,200 Kuki civilians in Manipur. From the 1990s Kuki genocide to the present attacks in Ukhrul and Kangpokpi, not a single cadre of NSCN-IM and ZUF-K has been arrested or prosecuted for killing Kuki civilians. Instead, the Government of India has arrested only Kuki village volunteers and armed groups who were defending their villages and people from terrorist attacks.
The Kuki civil society organisations have demanded immediate arrest and prosecution of the NSCN-IM and ZUF-K terrorists involved in the Kailenjang arson and the killing of 28 Kuki civilians in 2026, and have sought deployment of permanent Central Armed Police Force outposts in all vulnerable Kuki villages along the Kangpokpi-Ukhrul border. They have also demanded an NIA probe into all Kuki civilian killings by NSCN-IM and ZUF-K terrorists and compensation for victims’ families. Till justice is delivered, the trust of Kuki people on the Government of India will continue to erode, they said.
