IMPHAL: Bodies of two elderly men were recovered on Tuesday morning in Manipur’s Jiribam district where a gunfight between suspected militants and security forces broke out a day before, police said.During a search operation for missing persons, the bodies of Laishram Balen and Maibam Kesho were detected in debris in Jakuradhor Karong area where a few shops were set on fire by suspected militants on Monday, a senior officer said.”The two elderly men died after the insurgents torched a few shops in Jakuradhor Karong area,” he said.The search operation has been launched as five individuals have been reported missing, the police said.The district administration imposed prohibitory orders to avoid any untoward incident in the area, while an operation was launched to trace missing persons, they said.A shutdown has been observed since 5 am on Tuesday in Kuki-Zo majority areas in the hills to protest against the killing of suspected insurgents, the officials said.Eleven suspected militants were killed in a fierce gunfight with security forces on Monday after insurgents in camouflage uniforms, armed with sophisticated weapons, fired indiscriminately at a police station and an adjacent CRPF camp in Jiribam district, they said.Two CRPF personnel also sustained injuries during the heavy exchange of fire at Borobekra, and the condition of one of them was stated to be critical, they said.Following this incident, fresh violence was reported from multiple places in Imphal Valley where armed groups from the two warring sides engaged in exchanges of fire, police said.Explainer | Why Manipur is back on the edge The Kuki-Zo Council called for a total shutdown in the hill areas of the state from 5 am to 6 pm on Tuesday to express their “collective grief and solidarity who were brutally shot dead”.In a series of attacks, the suspected militants torched several shops and houses in and around the Jakurador Karong market, besides the Borobekra police station and the CRPF camp located adjacent to it.As the security forces retaliated, a heavy exchange of fire began and 11 suspected militants were killed, the officials said.The exchange of fire lasted 40-45 minutes, following which the situation was brought under control, the police said.Operations were continuing to flush out militants, and reinforcement teams consisting of Assam Rifles, CRPF and police were rushed to the spot, the police said.On Monday evening, violent clashes were reported from various villages in Imphal West and Imphal East districts, the officials added.Manipur violence: Six houses torched, villagers attacked in Jiribam
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