Fresh Gunfire Rattles Manipur's Noney District

Noney district of Manipur saw renewed unrest on Saturday morning with another bout of gunshots being reported from the Noney-Haochong area following an outbreak of a clash involving two groups of the Zeliangrong United Front (ZUF) yesterday, resulting in one of their cadres being killed. As per police reports, the shooting occurred at around 6 am in the area lying between Nungtek Part II and Haochong, which is about 5 km to the northeast of the district headquarters. The Meira Paibi women activists, along with the police, tried to reach the site but could not proceed due to security concerns.

Factors That Caused the Conflict in Noney

The fight started a day earlier at Oktan village, located around 21 kilometers northeast of Noney police station, where members of two factions of the militant group ZUF-Jenchui and ZUF-Kamson were involved in a fight from 3:30 pm to 4 pm. According to an anonymous policeman who confirmed the death of Dingtiplung Gonmei, alias Nguiba Gonmei, who claimed to be the chief secretary of ZUF-Kamson during the fight.

ZUF's Peace Pact With The Government

Zeliangrong United Front is a party that signed a trilateral agreement known as Cessation of Operations on December 27-28, 2022, with the Government of India and the Government of Manipur in New Delhi. A Joint Monitoring Group was set up through the signing of this agreement to ensure that all the terms agreed to are adhered to. This recent conflict will be a test for the peace agreement.