IMPHAL: At least nine people were shot dead in the remote northeast Indian state of Manipur, officials said on Wednesday — the latest incident in weeks of violence sparked by long-standing ethnic tensions.

Manipur saw days of deadly clashes in May, prompted by a dispute over access to government jobs and other perks.

More than 100 have died in the resulting unrest, during which mobs raided police stations and stole weapons, while tens of thousands of others fled their homes to seek safety.

Unidentified gunmen stormed Kamenlok village on the outskirts of state capital Imphal late on Tuesday and shot indiscriminately at houses using “sophisticated weapons”, Manipur government information officer Heisnam Balakrishna said.

“Nine persons including a woman was killed during the firing,” he added.

Ten others were injured in the attack and were taken to a hospital in Imphal for treatment. Another nine people were injured in a separate attack on Monday in the same village, according to police.

Tensions in the state came to a head last month between the majority Meitei, who are mostly Hindus and live in and around Imphal, and the mainly Christian Kuki tribe in the surrounding hills.

The Kuki community had protested Meitei demands for reserved public job quotas and college admissions as a form of affirmative action.

This also stoked long-held fears among the Kuki that the Meitei might also be allowed to acquire land in areas currently reserved for them and other tribal groups.

Manipur is part of India’s remote northeast, a region linked to the rest of the country by a narrow land corridor.

Published in Dawn, June 15th, 2023