A woman was killed and five people, including two police personnel, were injured in firing by suspected Kuki militants in Imphal West district on Sunday afternoon, Manipur police said.

They alleged the attackers had “deployed numerous RPGs using high-tech drones”, saying this marked a significant escalation and that the involvement of highly trained professionals could not be ruled out.

Reports from the Imphal Valley said an armed Kuki group had launched the attack from the Koutruk and Kadangband side. The police said 31-year-old civilian Ngangbam Surbala died of bullet injuries while her eight-year-old daughter was injured in the arm.

Two police personnel and three civilians were injured “in the ongoing incident”.

A security officer told The Telegraph that a woman was killed and her daughter injured in firing from the hill side (Kuki side) by suspected militants. The others were injured when retaliatory action by the police set up a gunfight.

A statement from the Manipur government said “bombs, drones and many sophisticated weapons” were used in the attack, “reportedly by Kuki militants”, with one person dead and “many” injured. It condemned the attack saying it was an attempt to derail peace efforts.

Reports from Kuki-majority Kangpokpi district said the firing started in the Kangchup region of Kangpokpi and then spread to neighbouring Imphal West.

Sources in Kangpokpi said there was a “plan” to ambush Kuki-Zo passengers travelling between Kangpokpi and Churachandpur, which led to the gunfight on Sunday.

Kuki-Zo village volunteers launched an operation after getting wind of the ambush plan in the Kangchup area, they said, and subsequently the gunfight between two groups started around 2pm.

Imphal West was under partial curfew on Sunday. The police appealed to the public to maintain restraint and said combing operations were on for “any inimical elements”.

The attack comes a day after Kuki-Zo members staged multiple protests reiterating their demand for a separate administration in view of attacks by Meitei groups.

The Meiteis live in the valley while the Kuki-Zos live in the surrounding hill
districts.

Chief minister N. Biren Singh had told PTI on Thursday that an emissary had been appointed to hold talks with both sides in the conflict, which has since May 3 last year killed at least 227 people and displaced over 60,000.