6 Manipur insurgents killed in infighting in Myanmar

GUWAHATI: Six members of the People’s Liberation Army (PLA), a Manipur-based extremist group, were killed in infighting in Myanmar.

Three others were also injured in the incident which occurred two days ago.

Sources from an intelligence agency said the infighting took place near a camp of rebel group National Socialist Council of Nagaland (Khaplang-Yung Aung) in the Sagaing region.

The sources also said the families of three of the six slain insurgents confirmed the deaths. They were from Manipur’s Kakching and Thoubal districts. The bodies of all six were buried in Myanmar.

The trouble was brewing in the PLA for some time as the Myanmar Army mounted pressure on the group to fight the country’s pro-democracy People’s Defence Force, the sources said.

The slain insurgents, the sources said, decided to abjure the path of violence and join the mainstream. So, they left the camp but were soon tracked down by fellow rebels leading to a gunfight in which all of them were killed. The three injured were from among those who had gone out to trace the six deserters.

Several militant outfits from the Northeast operate out of the soil of Myanmar. Ever since their coming together a few years ago under the banner of Western South East Asia or WESEA, they have carried out several attacks on the security forces in the Northeast.