03 September,2024 12:21 PM IST | Imphal | mid-day online correspondent
Manipur Chief Minister N Biren Singh/ X
A drone strike in Imphal West district, Manipur, injured three individuals, including a 23-year-old lady, according to authorities. The incident occurred on Monday evening, around 6:20 pm when suspected terrorists dropped explosives from a drone onto a residential neighbourhood. The woman was injured at her home in Senjam Chirang when a bomb exploded after piercing her house's roof. The injured people have been hospitalised, reported PTI.
In a related incident, insurgents fired indiscriminately on the village of Senjam Chirang from a mountaintop in Kangpokpi district, causing security troops to respond. This neighbourhood is just 3 kilometres from Koutruk, where two people were murdered and nine more injured in similar attacks on Sunday, the report further added.
It stated that during searches in Kharam Vaiphei hamlet and Kangchup Ponlen, security personnel discovered a drone and captured a substantial cache of weapons and explosives. This included 10 guns, an improvised mortar, nine mortar barrels, twenty gelatin sticks, thirty detonators, and two homemade rockets.
Chief Minister N Biren Singh condemned the Manipur drone attacks as terrorism and promised a forceful response. On social media, Singh called the deployment of drones to bomb civilian areas and security forces a "cowardly act" and reaffirmed the government's commitment to combating terrorism.
Singh's statements come after two recent drone bomb strikes in Koutruk and Senjam Chirang, which killed two people and injured twelve more. The Chief Minister stressed that the state government would take serious action in response to such acts, and he urged unity over violence and division.
Taking to X, CM N Biren Singh wrote, "Dropping bombs on civilian populations and security forces using drones is an act of terrorism, and I condemn such cowardly acts in the strongest terms. The Manipur state government takes such unprovoked assaults with utmost seriousness and will respond decisively to combat these forms of terrorism targeting the indigenous population."
He added, "We denounce all forms of violence, and the people of Manipur shall unite against hate, division, and separatism."
This is the first time drones have been used to launch bomb assaults in Manipur, indicating a dramatic escalation in the conflict. The police, along with the army and central forces, have launched a series of retaliatory operations and are on high alert.
In reaction to these instances, Manipur police have formed a five-member high-level team, led by Additional DGP (Intelligence) Ashutosh Kumar Sinha, to investigate militants' use of drones and formulate counter-drone methods.
