TWO KUKI CHURCH LEADERS KILLED IN CROSS-BORDER MILITANT ATTACK ON KULTUH VILLAGE, KAMJONG
Incident Summary
In the early hours of the morning, at approximately 4:30 a.m., an estimated 80 heavily armed militants crossed from Myanmar into Indian territory and launched a coordinated attack on Kultuh Village (also recorded as Kultuk in certain census records) in Kamjong District, Manipur.
The attackers, identified by eyewitnesses and video evidence as members of the NSCN-IM Eastern Flank, NSCN Eastern Flank, and the Shanni National Army (SNA), entered the village before dawn and opened an assault on the small and vulnerable Kuki settlement.
During the attack, the militants burned seven houses and killed two Kuki civilians.
The deceased have been identified as:
1. Letminlun Haokip
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Head Deacon
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Kuki Baptist Church, Kultuh
2. Lunminthang Haokip
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Youth Leader
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Kuki Baptist Church, Kultuh
The killing of two respected church leaders has sent shockwaves throughout the Kuki community.
About Kultuh Village
Kultuh is an old Kuki village in the Chassad / Kamjong region. However, decades of insecurity, armed conflict, and recurring cross-border militant attacks have significantly reduced its population, leaving only a small number of households.
Despite its present size, Kultuh remains an historic Kuki settlement and forms part of the traditional Kuki homeland in Chassad / Kamjong.
Why Are These Attacks Happening?
The attack on Kultuh is not an isolated incident. It forms part of a recurring pattern of violence directed against vulnerable Kuki villages in Kamjong District.
Historically, according to the 1944 Survey of India maps, more than two-thirds of present-day Kamjong District was under Kuki ownership and habitation. Following the Kuki-Naga conflict of the 1990s, the Kuki presence in the district was significantly reduced.
Today, Kuki communities continue to inhabit roughly half of the district. Repeated attacks against isolated Kuki settlements is an effort to systematically drive Kukis out of the remaining areas where they continue to live within the Kamjong District.
Cross-Border Dimension
The militants responsible for the attack did not originate from within India.
According to information gathered from the ground, the attackers crossed into Manipur from Myanmar before carrying out the assault.
In Myanmar, Kuki / Chin people have largely aligned themselves against the military junta, while groups such as the NSCN Eastern Flank and the Shanni National Army have maintained cooperative relations with junta-aligned forces.
This has created a dangerous cross-border security situation in which armed actors operating from Myanmar are able to infiltrate Indian territory and target Kuki civilian settlements.
Serious Questions for the Government
This attack raises urgent questions about national security and border management.
How were approximately 80 armed militants able to cross the international border, enter deep into Indian territory, attack a civilian village, burn homes, kill civilians, and withdraw without interception?
Why do vulnerable Kuki villages continue to face repeated attacks despite the large deployment of security forces across Manipur?
Why are border villages left exposed to armed incursions originating from across the international boundary?
The people of Kultuh deserve answers.
Conclusion
The attack on Kultuh Village represents not merely an attack on a remote settlement but an attack on Indian citizens living along India’s eastern frontier.
Two innocent church leaders have lost their lives. Seven homes have been reduced to ashes. A small border community has once again been subjected to terror.
The Government of India must ensure that those responsible are identified, apprehended, and brought to justice, and that vulnerable border villages receive the protection they are entitled to as citizens of the Republic of India.
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