5 Soldiers Killed in Ambush on Myanmar-India Border
The Indian authorities announced that 5 paramilitary personnel and 2 civilians were killed in an armed ambush.
Indian authorities announced Saturday that at least 5 soldiers and 2 civilians were killed in an armed ambush in the northeastern state of Manipur, on the border with Myanmar.
In a statement, the army's paramilitary Assam Rifles said that militants ambushed a convoy of Indian paramilitary soldiers on their way to inspect a remote village in Churachandpur district.
The dead were Colonel Viplav Tripathi of the Assam Rifles, his wife and son, and 4 other soldiers, according to the statement.
The Assam Rifles added that security reinforcements were sent to the site of the attack, and the search for the attackers was intensified in the neighboring areas.
The Associated Press quoted a police officer in Imphal, the state capital, as saying that the attackers opened fire with automatic weapons, killing the seven people on the spot.
In a joint statement, the People’s Liberation Army Manipur and the Manipur Naga People’s Front have claimed responsibility for the ambush.
Manipur, which borders Myanmar, has been the site of revolt against Indian rule for more than four decades, with about 20 active rebel groups in the state.