2 Assam Rifles Jawans Killed, 4 Injured After Gunmen Ambush Vehicle in Manipur
Two Assam Rifles personnel were killed and four others were injured on Friday evening when unidentified gunmen ambushed their vehicle in Manipur’s Bishnupur district . The attack, the first major strike on security forces in the state since last year, took place around 6 pm on National Highway 2 near Nambol Sabal Leikai .
According to an official statement from the Indian Army, a column of troops from the 33 Assam Rifles unit was traveling from Imphal towards Bishnupur when they were ambushed by the terrorists . “In the ensuing action, two personnel of Assam Rifles were martyred, and five were injured,” the statement said, although later reports confirmed four injuries . The injured jawans were evacuated to the Regional Institute of Medical Sciences (RIMS) in Imphal and are reported to be in stable condition .
The ambush site is located approximately 8 kilometers from Imphal Airport, on the same road that Prime Minister Narendra Modi had used during his recent visit to the state . The attack comes just two days before a proposed bandh called by suspected valley-based militant groups to protest the Manipur merger agreement of September 21, 1949 .
No group has yet claimed responsibility for the deadly ambush . Security forces have launched a massive search operation in the area to track down and eliminate the terrorists involved . Manipur Governor Ajay Kumar Bhalla strongly condemned the attack, expressing his condolences to the families of the slain soldiers and warning that such acts of violence will be met with the “strongest resolve to safeguard peace and stability in the region” .
