Manipur: 18 Kuki-Zo Killed in Five Months, 250 Houses Burnt in a Year

A year of Kuki-Naga clashes in Manipur’s hills has left civilians dead, villages emptied and hundreds of homes destroyed, with both communities accusing armed groups on the other side.

BY PC Bureau

September 1, 2026: A year after the Meitei-Kuki-Zo conflict plunged Manipur into its worst violence in decades, a second cycle of attacks has emerged across the state’s hills, pitting Kuki-Zo and Naga communities against each other and leaving civilians dead, villages damaged and hundreds displaced.

The latest attack came on August 31 at Teikhang village along the Imphal-Tamenglong (IT) Road in Kangpokpi district, where three Kuki civilians were killed and four others wounded, according to police and local accounts. The dead were identified as Tingneichin Lhouvum, Hoineineng Lhoujem and Lamtinthang Lhoujem.

Kuki organisations alleged that cadres of the NSCN-IM and Zeliangrong United front (ZUF) groups were behind the attack and reported that houses were also set ablaze. Police have not publicly established the identity of the attackers and said the case remains under investigation.

The Teikhang attack came just four days after four Naga civilians were killed along the same road, underscoring the rapidly escalating cycle of retaliatory violence in the hill districts.

There is no single official statewide casualty or displacement count for the Kuki-Naga clashes. Community organisations on both sides have compiled separate lists of victims and damaged villages, but many of the figures have not been independently verified.

The Kuki-Zo toll claimed by community groups

Kuki-Zo organisations say at least 18 members of their community have been killed in attacks since March, 2026. Their lists identify victims in Thawai Kuki and other areas of Ukhrul, Kamjong, Kangpokpi and Tamenglong.

The deaths recorded in the Kuki-Zo compilation include:

• March 11, Thawai Kuki, Ukhrul: Thangboimang Lunkim and Thengkhogin Baite
• April 24, Songphel-Mullam, Ukhrul: Letlal Sitlhou and Paominlun Haolai
• May 13, Kotzim-Kotlen, Kangpokpi: Rev. V. Sitlhou, Rev. Paogoulen Sitlhou and Pastor Kaigoulun Lhouvum
• June 5, Loibol, Kangpokpi: Letkhongam Haokip, Tinmary and Jangminlal Haokip
• June 9, Lasan, Tamenglong: Haogin Lhouvum
• June 11, Kultuh, Kamjong: Letminlun Haokip and Lunminthang Haokip
• June 13, Langka-Lasan area, Kangpokpi: Jangngam Hangshing
• July 12, Govajang, Kangpokpi: Haolal Singsit
• August 31, Teikhang, Kangpokpi: Tingneichin, Hoineng and Lamtinthang

Naga Militants Do Not Spare Even Women – Three Killed Including Two Women, Four Injured as NSCN-IM, ZUF-K Attack N. Teikhang Kuki Village

Three Kuki civilians, including two women, were killed and four others injured after suspected NSCN-IM and ZUF-K cadres attacked N. Teikhang… pic.twitter.com/pNe3RmOSLp

— Kukiland Media (@BoinuHaoki36609) August 31, 2026

The May 13 ambush and the hostage cycle

One of the most consequential incidents occurred on May 13, when three Thadou Baptist church leaders were ambushed and killed while returning from a convention between Kotzim and Kotlen.

The attack triggered a series of abductions involving members of both communities. Fourteen hostages were subsequently exchanged, but six Naga men abducted from Leilon Vaiphei were later found dead.

The Kuki-Zo Council subsequently acknowledged the killing of the six Naga men and described it as a “grave mistake”. The deaths form part of the wider cycle of violence but are separate from the 18 Kuki-Zo deaths listed by community organisations.

The National Investigation Agency (NIA) has taken up cases linked to some of the killings and abductions.

Villages caught in the violence

Kuki-Zo organisations have also compiled a list of 23 villages they say were attacked, burnt or abandoned. The villages are spread across Kamjong, Kangpokpi, Ukhrul and Noney.

If the individual house-loss figures in the compilation are added together, they amount to roughly 260 houses. That figure, however, represents claims made in the community compilation and has not been independently verified village by village.

The largest single figure cited is for Litan-Sareikhong in Ukhrul, where Kuki organisations say 90 houses were burnt during attacks on February 8-9 and about 450 people were displaced.

Other villages cited include:

• Gampal and Haijang in Kamjong — 15 and 10 houses
• Mullam in Ukhrul — 15 houses
• Loibol Khullen in Kangpokpi — 8 houses
• Kultuh in Kamjong — 13 houses
• Phaimol in Kamjong — 15 houses
• Nungthut and Khongmol in Noney — 30 and 15 houses
• Teikhang in Kangpokpi — 2 houses

In some cases, the community compilation records no houses burnt but reports residents fleeing. Displacement estimates run into the hundreds in several locations, but those figures too remain subject to independent verification.

A year of attacks and reprisals

The violence has unfolded in a series of incidents across the hill districts this year.

March: Two Kuki men from Thawai Kuki in Ukhrul were killed after an alleged abduction and armed confrontation. Kuki groups said the men had gone to repair a water line. The case was subsequently referred to the NIA.

April: Kuki organisations reported killings and arson in Songphel and Mullam in Ukhrul.

May: The Kotzim-Kotlen ambush killed three church leaders and set off a hostage crisis involving both communities.

June: Violence spread to Loibol Khullen, Kultuh and the Lasan area, with further civilian deaths reported. The discovery of the six Naga bodies after the May hostage episode further inflamed tensions.

July-August: Community groups reported attacks or attempted attacks around Phaimol, Leikot, Nungthut, Khongmol and Taphou. On July 12, Kuki groups reported the killing of Haolal Singsit at Govajang.

August 31: Three Kuki civilians were killed and four wounded at Teikhang, the latest major incident to be reported.

The geography is significant. Much of the violence has occurred along hill roads and settlements linking Ukhrul, Kamjong, Kangpokpi and Noney, where isolated villages and vulnerable transport corridors have become flashpoints.

Both sides accuse the other

The competing narratives remain sharply divided.

Kuki organisations accuse Naga armed groups and cadres linked to the NSCN-IM and ZUF of targeting Kuki civilians and villages. They have questioned how groups operating under ceasefire arrangements can allegedly be involved in attacks and have demanded arrests and accountability.

Naga organisations, meanwhile, have reported their own civilian casualties and accused Kuki village volunteers and groups linked to the Suspension of Operations (SoO) framework of carrying out attacks.

NSCN-IM has denied some of the allegations against it and has called for action against Kuki militant groups.

Political leaders from both communities have also traded accusations, while the state government has condemned civilian killings and referred major cases to central investigating agencies.

There is, however, no independently audited casualty register covering the entire Kuki-Naga conflict. Claims made by one community about the involvement of armed groups on the other side also remain subject to investigation.

READ: Kuki body questions legality of Manipur census pause claim

Where the situation stands

As of September 1, Teikhang is the latest major incident recorded in the Kuki-Zo community’s list. Following the attack, groups in Kangpokpi called for a shutdown of the highway.

Police and security forces have increased their presence along the IT Road and other vulnerable hill corridors, while investigations continue into the latest killings.

The emerging pattern is stark: an attack or ambush, civilian casualties, allegations of village burning or abduction, followed by accusations of retaliation elsewhere along the hill roads.

The 18 Kuki-Zo deaths and 23-village list provide an important record of what Kuki organisations say their community has suffered, but they do not constitute a complete casualty map of the conflict.

The fuller picture will require the deaths and displacement claimed by both sides to be independently verified and reconciled with police, investigation and administrative records.

For now, the names of villages — Thawai, Mullam, Loibol, Kultuh, Lasan, Govajang and Teikhang — tell the story of a conflict that has steadily spread across Manipur’s hills, with ordinary civilians increasingly caught between armed groups, community militias and cycles of reprisal.