In an ambush by terrorists on Saturday near the Myanmar border in Manipur, an Indian Army Colonel, his wife, and son, along with four soldiers were killed. The incident reportedly took place at around 10 am in Manipur's Churachandpur district.
Colonel Viplav Tripathy, who was a Commanding Officer of 46 Assam Rifles, had reportedly gone to a forward camp on Saturday and was returning when his convoy was ambushed.
The four deceased jawans have been identified as Suman Swargiary, Khatnei Konyak, RP Meena and Shyamal Das. Suman Swargiary belonged to Assam, while, the other jawans hailed from Nagaland.
The People's Liberation Army (PLA), a Manipur-based terrorist group is believed to be behind the attack, though no group has claimed responsibility for it yet.
Police sources told NDTV that intermittent firing was going on. It is believed to be one of the deadliest attacks in the region in recent times. It is the first time that civilians have died in an ambush in this remote area of the district. The location is an extremely isolated village more than 100 km north of the capital Imphal.
Chief Minister of Manipur, N Biren Singh has confirmed the death of the colonel and his family and said that a counter-operation has also been launched.
Most of the northeastern states including Manipur house many armed insurgent groups who fight for more autonomy or to break away, demanding their own territory. The Indian Army has been deployed in the region for decades, along the international borders with China, Myanmar, Bangladesh, and Bhutan.
In an attack in Manipur in 2015, 20 soldiers were killed after which the Army had launched a surgical strike on their camp.
