Manipur’s Bishnupur ambush: 2 Assam Rifles personnel killed, 5 injured

Two Assam Rifles soldiers were killed and five others injured after unidentified gunmen ambushed their vehicle in Manipur’s Bishnupur district on Friday evening, 19 September.

The attack took place around 5.45 pm near Nambol Sabal Leikai, roughly 15 km from Imphal, when a mini truck carrying the personnel was fired upon by armed assailants. According to an official statement from the army, the troops were travelling from Imphal towards Bishnupur when the ambush occurred along the highway in what has been designated a de-notified area.

“In the exchange of fire, two personnel of Assam Rifles lost their lives while five others sustained injuries. The injured have been evacuated to the Regional Institute of Medical Sciences (RIMS) in Imphal and are reported to be stable,” the statement said.

Footage circulating on social media showed one of the wounded soldiers lying on the roadside with a bleeding leg, calling for help as locals rushed to provide first aid and improvised bandages.

No insurgent group has so far claimed responsibility for the attack. Security forces have launched search operations in the surrounding area to track down those involved.

The ambush comes just days before a bandh called by valley-based rebel outfits to protest against the signing of the Manipur Merger Agreement on 21 September 1949. The state has witnessed several arrests of militants in recent months amid an uptick in armed activity.

With Agency Inputs