Coffins pile up in Dimapur

Villagers watch the mass funeral of the NSCN rebels on Wednesday. Picture by Eastern Projections
Kohima, Jun 5 : Another internecine clash and rows of corpses. This seems to have become the fate of Dimapur and its neighbouring areas.

Fourteen activists of the Khaplang faction of the NSCN were killed in a fierce gun battle with the Isak-Muivah group on the outskirts of Dimapur this morning. The former struck back later in the day, killing two from its rival camp.The clashes came as NSCN (I-M) chairman Isak Chishi Swu today called for reconciliation and peace among the warring Naga groups.

Khaplang faction’s spokesperson Akaho Assumi confirmed that they had lost 14 cadres during a clash with the rival faction between Xelhoje village and Seitekema C village near 7th Mile off Dimapur this morning.

He said Isak-Muivah activists surrounded their cadres near Xelhoje village around 5am and pounded them with rockets and heavy machine-gun fire. “We have lost 14 of them — 13 from the Sumi Naga tribe and one from Yimchungur tribe.”

However, sources said the Khaplang activists were on their way to attack the Isak-Muivah camp at Seitekema but, as the latter got wind of it, were attacked instead.

The Khaplang cadres came under heavy firing as they neared the rival camp, leaving nine dead. Five of them died when a rocket exploded in their midst.

Of the Khaplang cadres killed, a commander was identified as “major” Hekuto Sumi of Yemishe village under Zunheboto district. A “captain” was also killed, but the identities of the rest could not be ascertained, as the Khaplang group did not allow police and the administration to retrieve the bodies.

The militants later retrieved the bodies of their comrades and took them to Nihoto village, not far from the site of the clash.

Quoting sources, Dimapur police said 14 bodies had been retrieved from the spot.

The firing continued till afternoon, but there was no report of any casualty on the NSCN (I-M) side. Sources in the outfit said there was no casualty on their side and they had seized 11 weapons, including AK-47 rifles, from the Khaplang group. They refused to make any further comment about the morning’s incident. Other sources said one NSCN (I-M) cadre was injured.

The Khaplang group struck back in the evening, gunning down two rival activists and injuring another at Singal Basti in Dimapur. He was rushed to a hospital.

Villagers residing in the area said they could hear loud explosions and did not go to their fields today. The situation is tense in the area as cadres from both the factions are still holed up there.

Today’s incidents have come as a surprise to people as top leaders of the two factions are striving for reconciliation and unity among the Nagas. Swu had spoken to NSCN (K) chairman S.S. Khaplang recently. But the NSCN (I-M) still considers the rival cadres at Vihokhu camp near Dimapur as “rogue elements” working against the wishes of the Naga people.

Telegraph India

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India rebel groups’ feud kills 11

Guwahati, Jun 4 : At least 11 Naga rebels have been killed when two rival separatist factions clashed in the north-east Indian state of Nagaland, police say.

Police said 10 of the dead belonged to the Khaplang faction of the National Socialist Council of Nagaland (NSCN).The clash with the Muivah faction took place in a village not far from Nagaland’s commercial centre, Dimapur.

The NSCN is the strongest separatist group in the north-east. It split in 1988 and has seen in-fighting since.

‘Huge panic’

Rebels of the Muivah and the Khaplang factions fought with rifles and light machine guns in Seitikhima, near Dimapur town, police said.

“The gun battle started early on Wednesday and lasted for three hours. There is huge panic in the area,” a Nagaland police official said.

Both factions blamed each other for starting the fighting.

Kraibo Chawang, spokesman of the Muivah faction, told the BBC that their fighters had killed 10 guerrillas of the Khaplang group.

“We crushed them when they tried to attack our camp at Seitikhima,” he said.

One of the dead belonged to the Muivah faction, police said.

A spokesman for the Khaplang group, Kughalu Mulatonu, told the BBC that the Muivah group had launched an unprovoked assault on their fighters .

“They are escalating the conflict and we have to hit back,” he said.

Split

Last month too, 14 fighters of the Khaplang group were killed in a clash with the Muivah group at the same place.

Nearly 50 people, including civilians, have been killed in and around Dimapur in intensified fighting between the two Naga factions.

The NSCN split in 1988, when Burmese Naga rebel leader SS Khaplang parted ways with the main group, led by Thuingaleng Muivah and Issac Chisi Swu.

Both factions have been maintaining a ceasefire with the Indian security forces since 1997 but they have been fighting viciously against each other.

More than 400 rebels have died in factional clashes between these two groups since 1988.

BBC News

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