Naga atrocities upon Kukis

¤¤Nov 30, 1992:
About 400 Kuki tribesmen (mostly
Christian) fled India's northeastern border
state of Manipur after NSCN guerrillas
stepped up their attacks. NSCN members
believed that the Kukis collaborated with
the Indian army. Background to the Naga-
Kuki ethnic fighting: The two groups have
frequently clashed in the past for control
of the lucrative heroin trade route
through Moreh, an Indian outpost close
to the Burmese border. They are each
fighting for a separate homeland of their
own and their territories overlap. The
Nagas claim that the Kukis (who live on
both sides of the Indo-Burmese border)
are not indigenous, but were brought in
by former rulers (first by the Meitei and
then the British) from what are now
Myanmar and Bangladesh. The NSCN has
been extorting taxes from the Kukis.
When the NSCN split, ("recently"
according to The Guardian, 09/24/93) the
Kukis stopped paying taxes. Both groups
have a powerful vested interest in
prolonging communal conflicts in order to
divert attention from their profitable
smuggling of timber, gold, and heroin.
Both the Kukis and the Nagas see this
trade (especially heroin), as the best way
to finance their guerrilla wars against the
Indian government.

¤¤Mar 1993
Fighting between the NSCN and the Kuki
tribe was rekindled over control of a
strategic highway.

¤¤Apr 2, 1993
NSCN guerrillas launched an attack on
Tinghkai Knunu village in Manipur, killing
eight Kukis.

¤¤Apr 2, 1993
NSCN guerrillas launched an attack on
Tinghkai Knunu village in Manipur, killing
eight Kukis.

¤¤Apr 18, 1993
NSCN guerrillas shot six Kuki villagers in
Sita Kuki.

¤¤Apr 20, 1993
Five young children were burnt to death
when NSCN guerrillas attacked and set
fire to Bongli village in the Chandel
district of India.

¤¤May 27, 1993
NSCN rebels killed one woman and set
ablaze 75 houses in Manipur's Ukhrul
district.

¤¤Jun 7, 1993
Forty-four houses of the Kuki tribe were
set ablaze in Nagaland, allegedly by NSCN
rebels.

¤¤Aug 6 - 8, 1993
At least 41 Kukis were killed by NSCN
guerrillas in attacks on Kuki villages in
Manipur.

¤¤Sep 1, 1993
More that 50 houses (32 Kuki and 20
Naga) and a Kuki church were set afire in
intense Naga-Kuki fighting.

¤¤Sep 2, 1993
Naga leader, Ankim Khumto Anal, a
mainstream politician who contested the
last state assembly elections, was shot by
NSCN rebels. NSCN rebels are also
suspected of another recent killing of a
Kuki senior leader.

¤¤Sep 13, 1993
20 NSCN rebels attacked the pro-
government Kuki village on the outskirts
on Imphal, killing at least 17 villagers. In
response to the increasing Naga attacks
on Indian armed forces as well as Kuki
tribes people, Manipur authorities passed
orders giving the army sweeping powers
of search and arrest and use of force in
that state.

¤¤
Sep 14, 1993
30 NSCN Guerrillas raided Zapati village of
the rival Kuki tribe, lined up the men and
shot them, killing over 100 tribesmen.
Police said the raid on the Kuki village
followed the NSCN's warning last month
to local residents to vacate the
predominantly Naga region by September
15. However, the attack came 24 hours
prior to the expiry of the "quit notice". It
was the deadliest attack the Nagas have
ever carried out against the Kuki tribe.

¤¤Oct 5, 1993
Two Kuki villages were set on fire and at
least 77 houses destroyed when Kukis in
the Naga dominated area refused to pay
taxes to the Naga separatists and refused
to be evicted.

¤¤
Oct 21, 1993
Over 500 armed Nagas attacked the
village of Yangloi Kuki where the Assam
Rifles were encamped. They set 100
homes on fire but there were no reported
casualties. Four soldiers were injured in
an exchange of fire with armed Nagas at
Makui Chajang in Tamenglong district.
One person was killed and about 819
villagers lost their homes.

¤¤
Jan 14, 1994
At least two people were killed, three
seriously injured and about 50 houses
burnt by suspected Naga militants at
Yolien Chupi Kuki village in the Ukhurl
district of Manipur. This was the first
major incident since the imposition of
President's rule on the last day of 1993.

¤¤Jan 18, 1994
A group of unidentified armed militants
shot dead at least seven Kuki women in
Manipur.

¤¤Feb 19, 1994
At least 18 houses of the tribal Tinou Kuki
village in the Chakpikarong district of
Manipur were set ablaze by Naga
militants.

¤¤May 15, 1994
Some 50 NSCN militants invaded the
remote village of Sai Pimol in Manipur
herding 16 members of the Kuki tribe
(mostly women and children) into a
church and removing their heads.

¤¤May 19 - 23, 1994
NSCN guerrillas stormed Kuki villages in
Assam setting them ablaze and killing at
least seven villagers.

¤¤Jul 21, 1994
At least 22 members of the Kuki tribe
were killed by Naga separatists in
Manipur. Indian customs officials believe
that the two tribes are fighting over a
lucrative heroin route from the
neighboring Golden Triangle (Reuters,
07/21/94).

¤¤
Oct 21, 1994
Members of the outlawed Kuki National
Front hijacked a bus in Noney, Manipur,
riddled it with gunfire, and then pushed it
down a gorge. Forty-five people were
killed including thirty-two Nagas. Naga
tribals retaliated by killing two Kuki bus
drivers in Manipur (Agence France Presse,
10/21/94).

¤¤Oct 24, 1994
More than 20 Naga rebels attacked a rival
Kuki village in Manipur. Two people died
and over 21 homes were burnt down
(UPI, 10/24/94).

¤¤Nov 15, 1994
Around 20 members of the NSCN
surrounded four trucks near the Burmese
border and killed nine Kuki passengers
(Reuters, 11/15/94).

¤¤
Nov 19, 1994
25 Kukis were killed and more than 20
houses set ablaze as Maoist Naga
separatists attacked a village in Chandel
district, Manipur.
(Reuters,11/19/94).

¤¤Nov 28, 1994
Naga guerrillas pulled a Kuki tribesman
from a bus in Manipur and cut his head
off in full view of a shocked crowd. In a
separate incident in Manipur, government
troops shot and killed a Naga activist (UPI,
11/28/94).

¤¤Jan 2, 1995
Around 30-40 Naga militants attacked a
Kuki village in Senapati district, Manipur,
during New Year's celebrations. At least
five Kukis were killed and three others
injured while eight houses were set
ablaze (Xinhua News Agency, 01/02/95).

¤¤Dec 10, 1997
Nagas reportedly kill 10 Kuki tribal
members and torch 110 houses in four
villages in Ukhrul district, Manipur
(Deutsche Presse-Agentur, 12/10/97).

¤¤Dec 22, 1997
Nagas are allegedly responsible for the
deaths of 7 Kukis when a bus is ambushed
near Manipur’s capital, Imphal (Deutsche
Presse- Agentur, 12/22/97).