Suspected armed extremists ambushed a team of tribal church leaders in Manipur’s Kangpokpi district on Wednesday morning (May 13, 2026), killing three of them and injuring four.
The victims, members of Thadou Baptist Association of India (TBAI) and United Baptist Council (UBC), were traveling in two vehicles from Churachandpur Baptist Convention to Kangpokpi when they were attacked. The incident occurred on the hilly Tiger Road between the villages of Kotlen and Kotzim around 10:00
One of the survivors told security personnel that the attackers came on foot and slipped away after firing a volley of bullets for three or four minutes from the slope of an unprepared road that connects Kuki-dominated Churachandpur and Kangpokpi districts and bypasses the non-Meitei Imphal Valley. The Kukis have been avoiding the much shorter highway through this valley since ethnic violence broke out between the Meitei and Kuki-Zo communities on May 3, 2023.
Those who lost their lives were TBAI President Rev. Vumthang Sitlhou, TBAI Financial Secretary Rev. Fr. Pastor Paogoulun Lhouvum and Pastor Paogoulen Sitlhou. The TBAI president recently led a delegation of Kuki Christian leaders to neighboring Nagaland to mediate peace between the Kukis and Tangkhul Nagas in the troubled Kamjong and Ukhrul districts of Manipur.
While three of the four injured were taken to a private hospital in Imphal for treatment, the fifth survivor, who managed to escape, was later tracked down and rescued from the hills, an official told The Hindu.
“Some 8-10 armed men are suspected to have opened fire on two vehicles with automatic weapons, most likely AK-47 rifles. They were probably hiding in the hills,” the official said.
According to a statement issued by the Indian Army, joint convoys of security forces assisted in evacuating the injured to the nearest medical facility. “Joint convoys are carrying out large-scale search and area control operations,” the official Manipur monitor said.
Several Thadou (a section claims to be a separate community and not part of the Kuki tribal group), Kuki and Zomi organizations have announced a “total shutdown” in Kangpokpi, Churachandpur and other districts to protest the killings. The shutdown is for three days.
Chain of Condemnation
Manipur Chief Minister Yumnam Khemchand Singh condemned the incident and said he visited the injured in hospital along with Deputy Chief Minister Losia Dikho, Home Minister Govindas Konthoujam and other MLAs to ensure that the injured were given the highest level of care. He said the government would bear their medical expenses.
He said that such attacks, which undermine the collective efforts of the people to restore normalcy in Manipur, are unacceptable. “I call on the people to immediately stop kidnapping, hostage-taking and intimidation on communal lines,” he said, assuring the people that the government would use all resources to bring the perpetrators and their handlers to justice.
A statement issued by the United Naga Council’s Senapati district unit said about 20 Nagas from Konsakhul village were held hostage by people from Leilon Vaiphei village shortly after the ambush.
In the same Nagas-dominated district, the chairman of a Kuki village called on the Senapati police to release 23 Kuki laborers “detained” by the locals.
Nagaland Chief Minister Neiphiu Rio, his Meghalaya and Mizoram counterparts Conrad K. Sangma and Lalduhoma also condemned the killing of the Kuki church leaders. “I urge the authorities in Manipur to take immediate and strict action against those responsible,” Mr. Sangma said.
The Manipur Naga Legislative Forum, comprising nine MLAs, also issued a joint statement calling for peace and the release of all Kuki and Naga civilians detained or abducted as a result of the “cold-blooded murder of unarmed and peaceful religious leaders”.
Apart from the Indigenous Tribal Leaders Forum, Kuki Zo Council and Thadou Inpi Manipur, the Guwahati-based United Christian Forum of North East India (UCFNEI) also expressed grief over the killing of the church leaders.
“This brutal and inhumane act of violence claimed the lives of innocent servants of God who dedicated their lives to peace, service and the spiritual upliftment of their communities,” said UCFNEI spokesman Allen Brooks, adding that these church leaders were “not only spiritual shepherds but also pillars of hope, reconciliation and moral leadership in a region long marked by conflict.”
The finger pointing begins
Almost all extremist and radical groups under the ceasefire or subversion regime have been accused of carrying out an operation against church leaders with the aim of complicating the state’s law and order situation but still recovering from the ethnic conflict that erupted in May 2023.
These units include the Nagalim National Socialist Council or NSCN (Isak-Muivah), Zeliangrong United Front (ZUF), ZUF (Kamson), Arambai Tenggol and the Kuki National Army. All these groups have denied any involvement in the attack.
The Kuki Organization for Human Rights Trust (KOHUR) alleged that the ambush was carried out by the NSCN (IM) in “active collusion” with the ZUF as a “premeditated act of terrorism”. The trust further said that the victims helped convene a peace consultation under the auspices of the Nagaland Christian Forum, “a fragile but vital initiative to which the NSCN-IM has now responded with bullets”.
KOHUR further stated that the slain church leaders were symbols of reconciliation who faced considerable personal risk for dialogue between the Kuki and Tangkhul Naga communities.
Since February this year, there have been a series of attacks by Kukis and Tangkhul Nagas in Manipur’s Ukhrul and Kamjong provinces. Several lives were lost and houses were burnt during the attacks.
The Naga organization did not rule out the possibility that some extremist Kuki groups killed the church leaders to sabotage the peace initiatives of the Manipur Chief Minister. The slain Baptist leaders were reportedly scheduled to meet the chief minister before his visit to Churachandpur on May 15.
However, security forces said the ambush may have been due to mistaken identity. “It seems the attackers were unaware that the church leaders were traveling in two vehicles. Investigations are underway to identify the killers,” a security official said.
Published – 13 May 2026 21:55 IST
