An Assam Rifles patrol came under fire near Nampong Nallah in Changlang district on September 29, amid ongoing India-Myanmar border fencing. Havildar Jankhokai Kuki, 42, was killed and four personnel were injured.
BY PC Bureau
September 29: The NSCN/GPRN (Yung Aung faction) and the Revolutionary People’s Front (RPF) have claimed responsibility for a joint attack on a patrol of the 21 Assam Rifles near Nampong in Arunachal Pradesh on Tuesday morning, in which one Assam Rifles personnel was killed and four others were injured.
In a statement issued on September 29, the Ministry of Information and Publicity of the NSCN/GPRN (YA), which describes itself as the “Government of the People’s Republic of Nagaland”, said a combined tactical team of the NSCN/GPRN and RPF carried out the attack at around 6:30 a.m. near Nampong in Changlang district.
The group said the operation was undertaken “to unite against foreign occupational forces and defend our sovereignty”. It claimed that its cadres had killed one soldier, critically injured several others and recovered an AK assault rifle.
The statement praised its cadres for what it described as their “courage, unity, discipline and tactical proficiency” and ended with the slogans “Long Live Western South East Asia” and “Long Live Our Joint Struggle”.
However, the claim of joint participation by the RPF and the recovery of the weapon could not be independently verified.
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Independent and official accounts confirmed that an attack took place around the same time and location. Personnel of the 21 Assam Rifles were on patrol near Nampong Nallah under Nampong circle, where work on fencing along the India-Myanmar border is under way, when suspected militants opened fire.
Havildar Jankhokai Kuki, 42, of Maphou village in Manipur’s Kangpokpi district, was killed in the attack. Four other Assam Rifles personnel sustained injuries and were evacuated for treatment.
The Assam Rifles paid tribute to the slain soldier and said search and area-domination operations had been launched in the area.
Police and security sources said preliminary information pointed to the NSCN-K-YA faction. Changlang Superintendent of Police Kirli Padu said local police had been directed to collect details about the incident.
The attack comes against the backdrop of heightened security along the India-Myanmar border, where fencing work has accelerated following the Centre’s decision to end the Free Movement Regime. Insurgent groups operating along the border have opposed the fencing, arguing that the boundary divides communities with long-standing ethnic and familial ties.
The NSCN-K-YA, led by Yung Aung, a nephew of the late NSCN-K chairman S.S. Khaplang, is one of the hardline factions of the NSCN-K that has remained outside ceasefire arrangements and rejected political negotiations with New Delhi.
The group operates primarily from Myanmar and has repeatedly opposed the India-Myanmar border fence, describing the boundary as artificial. It has also claimed responsibility for previous attacks on Assam Rifles personnel involved in or protecting fencing operations in Changlang.
The RPF, a Meitei insurgent organisation based in Manipur, has historically maintained tactical links with some Naga insurgent groups operating from Myanmar. However, publicly documented joint operations between the two groups remain relatively uncommon.
The Nampong attack also comes amid continuing factional divisions among Naga insurgent organisations. Another NSCN/GPRN formation has reportedly condemned the attack, highlighting the differences between Naga groups over the armed struggle and the ongoing political negotiations.
Security operations in the Nampong sector were continuing on Tuesday evening. Authorities had yet to independently verify the NSCN-K-YA’s claim that an AK rifle was recovered or that the RPF participated in the attack.
