77% of insurgency incidents in NE from Manipur alone: MHA
The MHA report, uploaded on December 30, said that the seven northeastern states — Arunachal Pradesh, Assam, Manipur, Nagaland, Meghalaya, Mizoram, and Tripura — reported 320 incidents of violence related to insurgents, of which 248 (or 77.5%) were from Manipur during the period.
New Delhi: Manipur accounted for around 77% of insurgency-related violence across the Northeast between January 1, 2023 and March 31, 2024, according to the 2023-24 annual report of the ministry of home affairs (MHA).
The MHA report, uploaded on December 30, said that the seven northeastern states — Arunachal Pradesh, Assam, Manipur, Nagaland, Meghalaya, Mizoram, and Tripura — reported 320 incidents of violence related to insurgents, of which 248 (or 77.5%) were from Manipur during the period.
It further said that Mizoram did not report a single incident since 2019, while Tripura did not report any such incident between 2023 and March 31, 2024.
Even as the number of insurgency-related incidents was the highest at 243 in 2023 in all NE states since 2018 (252 incidents), the ministry noted that the increase was primarily due to the ethnic strife in Manipur.
Manipur has been roiled by ethnic clashes between Kuki and Meitei groups since May 3,2023. The ongoing clashes have led to the death of at least 260 people and rendered 50,000 homeless. In the last few days, the northeastern state is again on high alert after clashes between armed groups in different parts of the state.
According to the MHA’s data for the last decade, maximum 824 incidents were reported in 2014.
“The security situation in the north eastern states has improved substantially since 2014. Compared to 2014, there has been 71% reduction in insurgency incidents, 60% in security forces casualties and 82% in civilian deaths in 2023,” the annual report said.
New border outposts
According to the MHA’s annual report, the government has approved the construction of 509 composite border outposts along the Indo-Bangladesh and Indo-Pak borders. These border posts will be manned by the Border Security Force (BSF).
“Border Out Posts (BOPs) are the main workstation of the BSF along the borders. These are self-contained defence out-posts with a specified area of responsibility established along the entire continuum of land borders. Inter-alia, the BOPs are meant to provide appropriate show of force to deter trans-border criminals, infiltrators and the hostile elements from indulging in the activities of intrusion/ encroachment and border violations. Each BOP is provided with the necessary infrastructure for accommodation, logistic supports and combat functions,” the report said.
NSG counter terror drills
In 2023, the National Security Guard (NSG) carried out a regular reconnaissance of at least 194 sensitive places and 32 airports across the country. The ministry, however, did not divulge the names of the sensitive places where NSG personnel conducted a drill to deal with any terror attack.
Raised in 1984 to combat terrorism, NSG is to be used only in exceptional circumstances. NSG commandos are selected from the army, the central armed police forces and state police forces. After the November 26, 2008 terror attack in Mumbai, five regional hubs (Mumbai, Chennai, Hyderabad, Gandhi Nagar and Kolkata) were established to reduce the response time and to ensure pan-India footprint.
