Two personnel of the 33 Assam Rifles were killed and five were injured after a vehicle carrying them was ambushed allegedly by armed miscreants in Manipur’s Bishnupur district on Friday.

According to the police, the ambush took place at around 5.40 pm at Nambol Sabal Leikai, nearly 8 km from the Imphal airport.

No group had claimed responsibility for the attack, the Assam Rifles said on Friday. Search operations were underway to apprehend the miscreants involved in the attack.

This is the first deadly attack on central security forces since last year in Manipur.

The state has been embroiled in ethnic clashes between the Meiteis and Kuki-Zo-Hmar communities that have killed at least 260 persons and displaced more than 59,000 persons since May 2023. There were periodic upticks in violence in 2024.

President’s Rule was imposed in February after Chief Minister N Biren Singh resigned.

On Friday, Manipur Governor Ajay Kumar Bhalla condemned the attack on the security forces and expressed condolences to the families of the two soldiers.

“The governor reaffirmed that such heinous acts of violence will not be tolerated under any circumstances and warned that they will be met with the strongest resolve to safeguard peace and stability in the region,” the Raj Bhavan said on social media.