Two tribal militants were killed and four others seriously wounded in a pre-dawn encounter on Wednesday between two tribal organisations in Pherzawl district of Manipur, bordering Myanmar.
The armed militants of the United Tribals’ Liberation Army (UTLA) and the Liberation Tribal Tigers (LTT) had a fierce exchange of fire lasting many hours around 1 a.m. on Wednesday near Skekhupel village in the district, the police said. Police have identified the two killed militants as Marcus and Lungminthang.
Sources said that two of the injured cadres are in a critical condition.
Upon receiving the information, police commandos and Assam Rifles personnel rushed to the border areas. They have already launched search operations in the nearby mountains. However there is no report of having tracked down the armed militants.
Police said that all the militants were cadres of the UTLA. But the LTT faction broke away from the outfit and there have been some encounters betweens members of the two groups.