Manipur: 15 Kuki Houses Burnt in Kamjong After Gun Attack Kills One

Attackers shot up Chassad village on Saturday, killing Seikhohao Haokip and wounding four. Hours later, 15 houses were burning and families were sleeping in the forest. A second shooting wounded three men at the district headquarters.

At least 15 houses belonging to Kuki families were set on fire late on Saturday night in Chassad village, in Manipur's Kamjong district, hours after a gun attack on the same village killed one man and wounded four others. Families fled into nearby forest areas and to a camp of the security forces, officials and local sources said on Sunday.

The dead man was identified as Seikhohao Haokip, a Kuki civilian. He died during treatment after the daytime attack on Saturday, October 17. Four others from the village sustained bullet injuries in the same attack, according to reports carried by IANS.

A second attack the same night

In a separate incident at Kamjong district headquarters on Saturday night, three Tangkhul Naga civilians sustained bullet injuries in an attack that reportedly involved rival armed groups. The injured men were identified as T. Chithung, S. Malung and M. Shithung. They were admitted to Kamjong Hospital, where their condition was reported to be stable, IANS reported.

Police said a joint column of the Assam Rifles, the Border Security Force and Kamjong Police had been deployed in the affected area to bring the situation under control. Both Chassad village and the district headquarters sit near the India-Myanmar border, a sensitive stretch that has seen repeated security flare-ups.

What officials said

Deputy Chief Minister Nemcha Kipgen condemned the violence in Chassad, expressing grief over Haokip's death and concern for the injured village leaders and the families displaced by the burning of their homes. She described the burning of houses as an intolerable crime and said she had directed the district administration, the state police and the security forces to maintain round-the-clock vigilance, protect civilians and their property, and bring those responsible to justice.

Police said Chassad police station received information about the arson on Sunday. Who carried out the attacks had not been officially established, and accounts from the two sides accuse rival armed groups. Those claims have not been independently verified.

The wider pattern in the hills

Kamjong is one of Manipur's hill districts, and it has not been quiet. Reports of killings, gun attacks and arson involving Kuki and Naga armed groups have come out of Kamjong, Ukhrul, Kangpokpi, Tamenglong and Noney since February 2026. Community organisations on different sides have accused each other of targeting civilians and sheltering militants.

Underneath those clashes sits the state's wider ethnic conflict between the Meitei and Kuki-Zo communities, which erupted in May 2023 and caused widespread deaths, displacement and the destruction of homes. Three years on, Manipur's hill districts still live with armed groups, disputed ground and very little trust between neighbours.

What happens next

The test for the administration is plain. The joint security column has to hold the area through the coming nights, the injured have to be treated, and the families who slept in the forest need a safe way home. Above all, the investigation has to name who fired and who set the fires, because in Manipur an attack without an answer usually gets one back, in kind.

What is known, and what is not

Known: one man is dead, seven people were wounded across two attacks, 15 houses burned, and a joint security column is in place. Not known: who carried out either attack, whether the two attacks were coordinated, and when the families who fled Chassad can go home. Officials have promised an investigation. Until it reports, every claim about who did this should be read as a claim, not a finding.