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Imphal: "According to the youth club, Assam Rifles personnel had arrived in Tazeikaiphun for an overnight stay immediately before the incident, after which firing began in the early hours."
The Tazeikaiphun Youth Club has called for an independent and transparent investigation into an armed attack on the village early Wednesday morning, while raising questions over the presence of Assam Rifles personnel in the area shortly before the firing began.
In a statement issued on September 23, the youth body said the attack took place between approximately 5 a.m. and 6:40 a.m. and described the assailants as “Kuki armed militia and narco-terrorist elements”. The description is an allegation made by the organisation and has not been independently established.
The club said the incident had placed civilians at serious risk and demanded an investigation into the circumstances surrounding the attack, including the movement of security personnel and the security arrangements maintained in the village during the night.
A central concern raised in the statement was the timing of the Assam Rifles’ presence. According to the youth club, Assam Rifles personnel had arrived in Tazeikaiphun for an overnight stay immediately before the incident, after which firing began in the early hours. The club said the close sequence of events had caused concern among villagers and warranted examination by an impartial authority.
The organisation stopped short of making a direct finding against the security force, instead calling for the facts to be established through an investigation. It said that, should the inquiry establish negligence, breach of duty, unauthorised assistance or a failure to protect civilians, legal and disciplinary action should follow.
Separate reports from the area said the bunker at Tazeikaiphun Part 3 came under fire, followed by an exchange of fire between village guards and the attackers lasting for more than two hours. Assam Rifles and state police personnel subsequently reached the area. Preliminary police information cited by local media said no civilian casualties had been reported at that stage. Ukhrul Times
The incident formed part of a wider series of attacks reported Wednesday in the Noney-Kangpokpi belt, with Makui Chamriupiu, Langka, Thanamba and Kapningching Mukti Part 5 also reported to have been affected. Reports from the area said houses were burned in some locations, while the precise scale of damage and the identities of those responsible remained under investigation. Ukhrul Times
The Tazeikaiphun Youth Club also praised village volunteers who, according to the statement, stood together to protect residents during the attack. It said the community wanted to avoid further violence but would continue to defend its right to live safely and protect the village through lawful means.
The statement does not establish who initiated the firing, how the attackers entered or withdrew from the area, or whether any security lapse occurred before the incident. Those questions will require an examination of eyewitness accounts, security deployment records, weapons and ballistic evidence and other available material.
The allegations concerning the Assam Rifles’ overnight presence similarly require independent verification. NEWire has not found, in the material currently available, an official account explaining the circumstances of that deployment immediately before the attack.
The Tazeikaiphun incident therefore leaves two parallel questions for investigators: who carried out the armed assault, and whether anything in the security arrangements before the attack contributed to the vulnerability of the village. A credible investigation would need to establish both without relying solely on the competing claims emerging from the conflict.
NEWire will continue to report developments as more independently verifiable information becomes available.
Source: Statement issued by Tazeikaiphun Youth Club, dated September 23, 2026.
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