Four abandoned Naga homes were set on fire in Manipur's Tamenglong district on Sunday evening, hours after four Kukis were killed in two separate attacks, officials said.
The arson took place at Khedaghar, around 27 km from the Tamenglong district headquarters. No casualties were reported as the houses had been deserted weeks earlier amid fears of retaliation between the Naga and Kuki communities.
Security forces deployed in affected area
Unidentified people allegedly set the homes ablaze, officials said. Security forces, including the Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF), were already deployed in the area.
An officer requesting anonymity said security forces were maintaining a presence as residents had fled the area. “The district has only one remote Naga village, Baiboni, around 30 km from headquarters. There are around 20 houses, and a permanent platoon of CRPF is stationed there. A column of 38 AR [Assam Rifles] is also stationed at Muolzol Kuki village, almost three km from Baiboni.”
Four Kukis killed in separate attacks
The arson followed attacks in which four Kukis were killed in Tollen and Longpi villages on Sunday. A six-year-old boy was also injured.
Police said 46-year-old Lhingzangai Singsit was shot dead at around 5.30am in Tollen. Her husband, Seineh Singsit, later died from his injuries. In Longpi, a man and a woman were killed in another attack.
No group has claimed responsibility for the killings.
The Kuki-Zo Council (KZC) alleged that NSCN-IM cadres, along with Zeliangrong United Front-Kamson (ZUF-K) and Naga Village Guards, were behind the attacks. The allegations have not been independently established.
The attacks took place on September 13, observed by Kukis as "Black Day" to remember victims of the Kuki-Naga conflict of the 1990s.
Old tensions resurface amid ongoing violence
The KZC also alleged that Naga armed groups have killed 22 Kuki-Zos, including women and children, since the beginning of 2026. “...the brutality of Naga armed groups can no longer be ignored.”
Tensions between the two communities intensified after six Nagas were abducted and killed in May following a twin ambush. Their bodies were recovered in June.
Manipur's wider ethnic conflict began in 2023 between Meitei and Kuki communities and has since drawn in other groups. Despite a new government formed in February, sporadic violence continues. Since May 2023, 306 people have been killed and 49 remain missing.