At least five members of the security forces were injured in an attack by suspected militants near the Kuki-Zomi-dominated border town of Moreh in Manipur’s Tengnoupal district on Tuesday.

The situation in the town had been tense following another ambush on the police on December 30 after which a curfew was imposed in the town, reported PTI. The latest attack on Tuesday took place after the police picked up two persons for allegedly being involved in the December 30 violence.

A police official told Scroll that four state police commandos and one member of the Border Security Force were injured in a gunfight that broke out on Tuesday. The injured were airlifted to Imphal for treatment at the Regional Institute of Medical Sciences, NDTV reported.

Manipur has been gripped by ethnic clashes between the Meitei and Kuki communities since early May. Over 200 people have been killed since the conflict broke out and nearly 67,000 persons have been forced to flee their homes.

The Indigenous Tribal Leaders’ Forum, a group of recognised tribes in the Kuki-Zomi majority district of Churachandpur, described December 30 violence as a fight between “unidentified gunmen and Meitei commandos” and said that such violence is likely to “continue in the state as long as armed Meitei forces were posted in tribal areas”, reported The Telegraph.

The Indigenous Tribal Leaders’ Forum has also accused the Meitei commandos “who are supposedly posted in the area to maintain peace and prosperity” of burning down three civilian houses in Moreh.

Chief Minister N Biren Singh on Tuesday visited the hospital to meet the injured security personnel. After the meeting, Singh told reporters that it was an unfortunate incident, adding that the members of the security forces had not been seriously injured.

In another incident, at least four Meitei Muslims were shot dead after a group of armed miscreants attacked them at the Lilong town in Manipur’s Thoubal district on Monday evening. At least 10 others were injured in the attack. The officer in charge of Lilong police station, N Tikendra Meitei, said that all those who were killed and injured were Meitei Pangals, or Meitei Muslims.

Singh also met those injured in the Lilong attack on Tuesday.

Also read: The backstory: Covering Manipur violence brought back childhood memories of a riot