Manipur extremist groups feeling heat of Myanmar’s civil war heat after ambush of pro-junta militia

Ambush on a pro-junta group in December underlines the change in attitude of Myanmar locals to Manipur’s Valley-Based Insurgent Groups, officials said

 Extremist groups of Manipur operating from their hideouts across the international border are increasingly feeling the heat of the civil war in adjoining Myanmar.

Officials of the security forces manning the 1,643 km India-Myanmar border said the once-tolerant locals have been turning on the members of Manipur’s extremist groups, specifically the Valley-Based Insurgent Groups (VBIGs) over the past few months.

VBIGs is a term for groups comprising people from Manipur’s Imphal Valley. Six of these groups, including the Kanglei Yawol Kanna Lup and the Revolutionary People’s Front (RPF), often operate under the Coordination Committee.

The pressure on the VBIGs is learnt to have increased since December 28, 2022, when three pro-democracy groups joined hands to ambush and kill seven members of the Shanni Nationalities Army (Red), a Burmese militia aligned with the Myanmar Army. The ambush happened between Myothit and Mintha on the Indo-Myanmar Friendship Road that India’s Border Roads Organisation built more than a decade ago. 

The VBIGs, virtually driven out of Manipur after intensified counter-insurgency operations, have reportedly been fighting alongside the Myanmar Army as a quid pro quo arrangement for using the country as a hitherto safe haven. 

The three pro-democracy outfits that carried out the ambush are the 1 Battalion of the People’s Democratic Force of the Tamu region near Manipur’s border town Moreh, the Kuki National Army (Burma) and the little-known Kabaw Chin National Defence Force. 

These groups mostly comprise the communities belonging to the Kuki-Chin ethnic group. The Kuki-Chin people live on either side of the India-Myanmar border.