GUWAHATI: Six persons were killed in Manipur’s Jiribam district on Saturday morning as there is no letup in the ethnic violence between Meiteis and Kuki-Zo tribals.Official sources said an elderly Meitei man was shot dead in his sleep at Nungchappi village around 5.30 am. In a retaliatory gunfight, five insurgents – four from the Kuki community and one from the Meitei community – were killed. Later, the violence escalated to Rashidpur where intermittent firing continued until 9.50 am, the sources said, adding that the situation remained tense as the hostilities continued.Located in Manipur’s westernmost periphery bordering Assam’s Cachar district, Jiribam has a mixed population of Meiteis, Kuki-Zo tribals, Nagas and various other communities. It was unaffected by the ethnic violence in the past year until trouble breaking out here in the first week of June.The incident in Jiribam on Saturday came a day after a 70-year-old priest was killed when suspected militants had fired a rocket that landed at the residential compound of former Chief Minister Mairembam Koireng Singh in Moirang area of Bishnupur district. Five others were also injured. The victims were preparing for an upcoming religious function when they were hit by splinters.Another rocket fired by the suspected militants on Friday morning at Terakhongshangbi in the same district damaged two buildings. The range of such rockets is over 3 km, the police said. Meanwhile, all schools in the state remained closed on Saturday. The government had ordered the closure of government schools, government-aided, private and central schools keeping in mind the safety of students and teachers.The ethnic violence, which first broke out on May 3 last year, left over 230 people dead and around 60,000 others displaced.
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