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Manipur : Eleven killed in Imphal

	February 25, 2008

Eleven people, including six suspected United National Liberation Front (UNLF) insurgents, were killed in two separate incidents in Manipur, on Saturday, Feb. 23.



Assam Rifles spokesperson Col L.M. Pant said acting on specific information, troops of the 24 Assam Rifles launched the operation on the night of Feb. 22. The encounter took place at a site 5 km south of Thangbung Minou near the border town of Moreh at 4.30am.



An AK-47 rifle, two M-16 rifles, a lethal grenade launcher, one under barrel grenade launcher, two pistols, huge quantity of ammunition and a radio set were found at the site.



The bodies, covered in fatigues, were later recovered by Moreh police. Their identities were yet to be established.



This is one of the major successes achieved by the security forces after the flush-out operation in Somtal, a tribal belt along the Indo-Myanmar border in Chandel.



The operation was part of the efforts of Chandel-based troops to foil militant offensive from across the border. Chandel shares a nearly 500-km-long border with Myanmar.



Pant said the UNLF militants were on the run after the operation launched in Somtal on November 18 last year to clear the region of militants holed up there for more than a decade. Before the troops launched the operation, Somtal was regarded as a “liberated zone” of the UNLF, one of the major militant groups of Manipur.



The troops announced the completion of the operation in the second week of January, claiming that they had cleared Somtal of insurgents. The UNLF, however, rejected the Army’s claim and said the troops could not reach its base camp.



The Assam Rifles claimed that the UNLF activists, who were driven out of Somtal, had established camps in Myanmar. They were planning attacks on security posts on this side of the border.

“The Assam Rifles will continue to put pressure on the militants,” Pant said.



In another incident, five persons who were travelling in a jeep, were shot dead by suspected Kuki militants in interior Saikul village of Senapati district





Students rally against rebels



Thousands of students marched on the streets of Imphal on Feb. 23 to demand a better academic atmosphere which had been vitiated by “pressures” from militant groups.



Students of 175 private schools participated in the rally organised by the All Manipur Government Recognised Private Schools’ Welfare Association. Of the state’s 456 private schools, 202 schools from the four valley districts are members of this association.



The students walked silently through the crowded streets with placards reading “Make educational institutes a free zone” and “Make educational institutes a peace zone”.



The rally comes in the wake of the closure of three schools - Jawahar Navodaya Vidyalaya and Little Master English School in Imphal West and Manipur Public School in Imphal East - earlier this year following extortion threats from militant outfits.



“We cannot concentrate on teaching as we have to cope with pressures from various groups. The welfare of the students is at stake,” general secretary of the association N. Rameshwar Singh said.



“We are holding this rally to highlight our grievances and create awareness about the need to maintain a good academic atmosphere,” Rani Devi, a Class X student said.