Daijiworld Media Network – Manipur

Manipur, Dec 19: Security forces in Manipur on Thursday recovered 16 abandoned improvised explosive devices (IEDs) at Lungdeiphai Leinom village junction in the Kangvai area of Churachandpur district, officials confirmed on Friday. The explosives were neutralised by a bomb disposal squad.

Officials said the recovery took place during a search operation in and around the village junction. The incident follows a suspected armed attack by a Kuki group two days earlier, which involved indiscriminate firing and bombings in Torbung Sabal Mamang Leikai in neighbouring Bishnupur district.

The attack came on the same day as a security review meeting in Churachandpur chaired by Manipur DGP Rajiv Singh. During that day’s operations, security forces also recovered one Long Range Improvised Pumpi (country-made bomb launcher), four Medium Range Improvised Pumpi, one Medium Range Barrel-Blasted Improvised Pumpi, one IED weighing approximately 3 kg, one single-barrel firearm, and seventeen empty shells of various calibres.

In response, the Kuki-Zo Council (KZC), in a statement signed by its secretary Ginza Vualzong, said the local population had consistently exercised restraint and respected the buffer zone arrangement to prevent further violence.

“The Manipur crisis is not a law-and-order issue but a political one rooted in ethnic cleansing. Peace will come only through a political solution,” the statement added.

The recovery of the IEDs underscores continuing security challenges in the region, highlighting the fragile situation between ethnic groups and the need for a sustained political dialogue.