Kuki group announces shutdown of key Manipur highway after attacks on villages
State government transfers Superintendent of Police in charge of Kamjong district
A Kuki organization in Manipur declared a "total shutdown" of National Highway 202 for four days on October 18, 2026, to protest ongoing violence and the lack of adequate security measures. National Highway 202, also known as the Imphal-Ukhrul road, serves as a crucial alternative route when National Highway 2, Manipur's primary artery, is restricted to certain communities amid ethnic conflict between the Kuki-Zo and Meitei populations since May 2023. Highway restrictions were lifted in the second week of August.
In a statement, police reported that a joint column comprising the Assam Rifles, Border Security Force, and Kamjong Police had been deployed to the affected region to restore order. The shutdown announcement by the Working Committee of Kuki Civil Society Organisations (WCKCSO) followed a series of attacks on villages near the India-Myanmar border in Manipur's Kamjong district.
At least one Kuki villager and several others were injured, while 15 houses were burned in the attacks that persisted until Saturday, October 17, 2026 night.
The WCKCSO blamed Naga extremists, specifically the Isak-Muivah faction of the National Socialist Council of Nagalim, for the attacks on Chassad and other Kuki villages close to the Myanmar border. They argued that the assaults in Kamjong and Ukhrul districts were conducted near security force bases or camps. An autopsy conducted in Manipur on two Naga men killed on October 10, 2026, revealed that their heads had been severed by the assailants.
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