MUMBAI: Schools were ordered closed from Saturday in India’s restive state of Manipur after a rocket attack by insurgents killed one civilian and injured six others.
Fighting broke out in the northeastern state more than a year ago between the Hindu majority Meitei and the predominantly Christian Kuki community.
The conflict has simmered ever since, dividing communities that once lived along ethnic lines.
A statement from the local government said all schools in the state would be closed on Saturday, when classes are normally held, to protect the “safety of students and teachers”.
Earlier in the day, a group of insurgents had fired rockets in the state’s Bishnupur district, an attack local police attributed to “Kuki militants”.
According to a police statement, a 78-year-old man was killed in the barrage and six people were injured.
Police officers who responded to the attack “came under fire from suspected Kuki militants, but the police team retaliated vigorously and repelled the attack,” the statement said.
Local media reported that the elderly man was killed when a missile hit the residence of the late Mairenbam Koireng Singh, former chief minister of Manipur.
THE Indian Express The newspaper, citing an unnamed security source, said the missiles appeared to be “improvised missiles” made using “galvanized iron pipes attached to explosives”.
Friday’s attack came days after insurgents used drones to drop explosives in what police called a “significant escalation” of violence in the state.
A 31-year-old woman was killed and six people were injured in what police described as an “unprecedented attack” by insurgents.
Long-standing tensions between the Meitei and Kuki communities revolve around competition for land and public jobs, with rights activists accusing local leaders of exacerbating ethnic divisions for political gain.
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