An Indian Army personnel was injured after armed miscreants resorted to unprovoked firing in Kanto Sabal in Manipur on the intervening night of June 18 and 19.

“Army Columns resorted to controlled retaliatory fire keeping in view presence of villagers in the area. One Army soldier sustained gun shot wound, evacuated to Military Hospital Leimakhong and is stable,” the Army said in a statement.

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Additional columns have been deployed in the area and joint operations are underway, the Army added.

Meanwhile, Kuki militants burnt down five abandoned houses in Kanto Sabal in Manipur’s Lamsang district yesterday around midnight, a retired BSNL officer and a local resident confirmed to ANI.

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The incidents are the latest in the spate of violence that has gripped the northeastern state which has been witnessing clashes between two groups over the demand for inclusion in the Scheduled Tribes (ST) category.

Clashes broke out in Manipur after a ‘Tribal Solidarity March’ was organised in the hill districts on May 3 to protest against the Meitei community’s demand for Scheduled Tribe (ST) status.

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Over 100 people have died since May 3 in clashes between the Meiteis, who live in and around the state capital Imphal valley, and the Kuki tribe, who are settled in the hills, over the valley residents’ demand for inclusion in the Scheduled Tribes (ST) category.