Two Assam Rifles troopers were killed and five injured on Friday evening when their truck was ambushed by "unidentified terrorists" in Meitei-majority Bishnupur district of strife-torn Manipur.
The defence PRO said a vehicle ferrying troops of the 33 Assam Rifles from Patsoi to Nambol was attacked on a highway in the Nambol Sabal Leikai area around 5.50pm.
It blamed "unidentified terrorists" and said the site was in "the denotified area of Manipur".
A denotified area is a place where the contentious Armed Forces (Special Powers) Act — which gives the security forces extraordinary powers to search, detain, arrest and shoot — is not in force.
Friday’s ambush comes less than a week after Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s September 13 visit to the state — his first since the conflict between Meiteis and Kuki-Zos erupted on May 3, 2023.
The ambush site is about 12km from Imphal West.
"In the ensuing action, two personnel of Assam Rifles were martyred and five are injured who have since been evacuated to RIMS and are currently stable," the defence PRO’s statement said.
The defence PRO’s statement said: “As of now, no group has claimed responsibility. Search operations are ongoing to apprehend the terrorists involved in the incident.”
The previous attack on the security forces in Manipur had come last November when a group of Kuki-Zo militants targeted a CRPF post in Jiribam district, resulting in the deaths of 10 rebels.
