The United Naga Council (UNC), apex body of the Naga people in Manipur, vehemently condemns the barbaric cross-border invasion perpetrated by the Mayanmar based armed Kuki militants, KNA-B and unprovoked attacked carried out by Kuki militants operating under SoO operation on 7th May 2026 at International Indo-Myanmar Border and Sinakeithei village respectively. At approximately 4:00 AM, a force of around hundreds heavily armed terrorists illegally breached the International Indo-Myanmar Border from Myanmar and executed a premeditated assault upon the Naga villages of Namlee, Wanglee, Ashang Khullen (KAKA), and Z Choro. The Sinakeithei village was attacked from the Lungthar Hill Range where heavily armed kuki mercenaries are positioned unleashing heavy rounds of gun fire injuring many civilians at approximately 12:30 PM. These villages are the ancestral home of multiple Naga tribes, not of a single community, with Aloyo and Choro in particular sustaining diverse Naga populations.
Employing sophisticated weaponry, the assailants fired indiscriminately upon civilians and set dwelling houses ablaze. Women, children, and the elderly have been forced to flee into the deep jungles, abandoned without food, shelter, or medical care. This constitutes a brazen assault upon India sovereignty and a direct violation of the lives and dignity of indigenous Naga peoples.
The UNC unequivocally condemns the egregious failure and deliberate inaction of Central Security Forces deployed along the International Indo-Myanmar Border. That about hundreds foreign armed militants could traverse the across border and attack villages in less than twenty-four hours after Central Forces inspected the area on May 6, 2026 is indefensible. The forces stood as mute spectators while our villages burned. This dereliction has extinguished the Naga people’s trust and confidence in Central Forces. The UNC further condemns the Government of India’s stoic silence in the face of foreign armed aggression. When indigenous citizens are fired upon and displaced by foreign militants on Indian territory, silence is tantamount to complicity.
The UNC places on record that out of the thousand refugees earlier languishing in Naga villages, there are still around 300 Kukis who are taking refuge at Namlee-Wanglee.
It is, however, surprising to note that children of these refugees are enrolled as PDF/KNA(B) and involved in the act of arson at Namlee-Wanglee and Z Choro. Despite bearing this humanitarian burden with restraint, the Naga people assert that the present attack is not a refugee crisis but a calculated cross-border invasion of Naga ancestral land.
The United Naga Council demands immediate and decisive military action by the Government of India to neutralize the foreign aggressors and restore the sanctity of the International IndoMyanmar Border. We demand the urgent deployment of Manipur State forces, in whom the people repose their sole trust. We further demand emergency relief for displaced women, children, and the elderly now sheltering in jungles, and a high-level, time-bound inquiry into how about 100 militants crossed the border undetected following a security visit on May 6, 2026, with culpability established and accountability enforced. The UNC declares that it shall not remain silent while Naga ancestral territory along the International Indo-Myanmar Border is violated and its people rendered refugees in their own homeland. We also takes strong exception over the selective protection and biased enforcement of the state machinery is evident in destroying Naga village Guards’ bunkers & shelter shed and intimidation to the Naga villagers in Shokvao, Sharkaphung, Leingangching (Laho), New Heaven, Ringui and Sirarakong while guarding the Kuki villages without touching their bunkers by the central security forces especially by the section of Assam riffles and others. This apparent double standard of Indian Army, explicit collusion with one community and masquerading as the protector and sentinel of the hills people is highly unacceptable and raises serious questions behind the actions. Moreover, the government’s indifference attitude is alarming that so far no security measures had been taken up by the government in and around the vulnerable Naga Villages in foothills and Kangpokpi areas despite repeated appeals from the concern villages and their parent bodies.
The prevailing phenomenal aggression – Kuki mercenaries backed by the government machinery, armed with sophisticated weapons and terrorizing Naga villages is not an isolated case but a calculated and coordinated attack over the indigents of the land which will have a far reaching ramification. It is a cross violation of international human rights systematically orchestrated by the state actors using Kuki mercenaries under the guise of SoO pact with GoI and Mayanmar based KNA-B. We demand that the government must come clean on this proxy arrangement against the Naga. Moreover, the state government’s inaction in the prevailing situation is unfounded and raises questions about its intentions- Is this present dispensation an unpopular government, designed to work at the behest of one community?
“For decades, the Nagas have stood as sentinels of India’s frontier. If foreign militants can strike us on Indian soil with impunity, it indicts the security of the nation and the constitutional guarantees extended to Scheduled Tribes. The Government of India must act now, If, the Government of India and the Ministry of Home Affairs are unable to guarantee the protection of Naga civilians and their properties, then the continued deployment of security forces in the Indo-Myanmar border be removed, the Naga people will take its own course to defend and safeguard the security and Naga ancestral land’ stated the statement issued by the Media Cell, Working Committee, UNC
