Indian security forces have neutralized bombs and recovered arms and ammunition thought to have been left by militant groups in the violence-hit northeastern state of Manipur, according to media reports.
Security forces have found 27 bombs and neutralized them in Manipur’s Imphal East district, PTI news agency has reported, quoting a senior official.
The forces also recovered arms and ammunition from the district, according to the report. Militant groups operating in the region commonly loot ordnance used by the Indian army.
More than 200 people have been killed and thousands left homeless in ethnic strife between Meiteis and Kuki-Zo militant groups in Manipur since May 2023.
New Delhi suspended local government in Manipur after Chief Minister N. Biren Singh, a member of Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), resigned in February 2025.
The state assembly, which is up for re-election in 2027, has been suspended.
Violence between the two communities – the majority Meitei, who inhabit the interior plains, and the minority Kukis, who live in the surrounding hills – has escalated since May 2023. Since the onset of this conflict, hundreds of thousands of people have been displaced.
In November 2024, New Delhi reimposed a special security act in several regions of the state. The Armed Forces (Special Powers) Act (AFSPA) gives army and paramilitary forces special powers to search, arrest, and open fire if deemed necessary for maintaining public order.
AFSPA, which has been enforced for decades in several states of India, has long been a point of contention between regional governments and New Delhi. In Manipur, AFSPA has been in effect since 1980, but was withdrawn in certain areas considered “peaceful” in 2022 and 2023.