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07-05-2023
Bureau Report + Agencies
NEW DELHI/ MANIPUR: The death toll of ethnic clashes among tribal groups in India’s remote northeastern state of Manipur has reached 54 after another night of violence as the country’s armed forces struggle to enforce law and order.
Reportedly, thousands of troops were dispatched to Manipur state after violence broke out amid a protest staged by a tribal group on Wednesday.
Internet was jammed, while law enforcers were allowed to shoot at sight orders but only in “extreme cases” to force the fighting factions to walk away from violence.
AFP quoted local police as saying that a tense calm prevails after a recent scrap on Friday night, while according to The Press Trust of India, the total tally of the dead in the hospital morgues in the state capital Imphal and Churachandpur district further south has reached 54.
“Sixteen bodies were kept in the morgue of the Churachandpur district hospital while 15 bodies were in Jawaharlal Nehru Institute of Medical Sciences in Imphal East district,” PTI reported, citing an unnamed local official.
“The Regional Institute of Medical Sciences at Lamphel in Imphal West district reported 23 dead.”
Manipur Director General of Police P Doungel told reporters on Friday that security forces were bringing the situation under control.
Army patrols had “gone a long way to quell the thing off”, he said.
Security forces and the Manipur government have yet to issue an official death toll for this week’s violence but India’s law minister Kiren Rijiju told reporters today that “many lives have been lost” after days of clashes alongside damage to property.
The suspension of internet services has slowed down the flow of information from Manipur and the current situation on the ground after the latest clashes on Friday is not clear.
An Indian army unit based in neighboring Nagaland state said 13,000 people had sought shelter from the violence “within military premises”.
On Thursday, security forces fired tear gas in Imphal to disperse protesters, some of whom had set alight vehicles and houses in parts of the city.
Charred vehicles were seen on streets otherwise empty due to the imposition of a round-the-clock curfew.
Defence officials said Friday that additional troops had been brought into the state by road and air.
