An army jawan suffered a gunshot injury in firing by suspected Kuki-Zo militants in Manipur’s Imphal East district on Sunday morning, capping a week that saw violent attacks by armed groups from both sides.

Officials said the jawan from the Mahar Regiment was hit in his arm during an exchange of fire at Thamnapokpi, bordering Kangpokpi, with suspected Kuki-Zo militants targeting villages in the Meitei-majority foothills.

Officials said there was a gunfight between the armed groups in Imphal East on Saturday night, leading to the deployment of central and state forces on Sunday morning to prevent an escalation.

However, a group of suspected Kuki-Zo militants started firing towards the villages in the morning, leading to the exchange of fire with the security forces in which the Mahar Regiment jawan was injured.

Police and army are yet to react to the incident but an army source said “probably it was some minor issue”.

Details about the jawan or his condition were not revealed but a police source said “it is a minor injury”.

Sunday’s development comes in the wake of an arson at a village in Jiribam district where a Hmar woman was “raped and burnt alive” by suspected Meitei militantson Thursday.

This was followed by the death of a Meitei farmer in a firing by suspected Kuki-Zo militants in Meitei-majority Bishnupur districton Saturday.

Kuki-Zo militants had also attacked Monbung, a Meitei village in Jiribam, on Saturday night, compounding the tension that has gripped the district since the death of the Hmar woman.

A protest organised by the Kuki Women’s Union, Saikul, on Sunday under the banner of the Committee on Tribal Unity in Kangpokpi condemned the arson in Jiribam.

The protesters slammed the Jiribam district administration and the security agencies for not being able to protect the Hmar villagers and sought justice for the victim.

The protesters also urged the Centre to arrest the perpetrators and address the demand of the Kuki-Zos for a separate administration to end the bloodshed in the state.

The ongoing conflict in Manipur has claimed at least 239 lives and displaced over 60,000 people since May 3, 2023.

The farmers’ wing of the Coordinating Committee on Manipur Integrity (Cocomi), a conglomerate of Meitei civil society organisations, has condemned the killing of the Meitei woman farmer. It also flayed the BSF for “not” being able to protect the vulnerable farmers who had informed the border force personnel about their work schedule.