Manipur attack aftermath: As it happened on Friday

Imphal: Live updates from developments taking place in the wake of a deadly attack on the Indian Army's 6 Dogra Regiment on Thursday in Manipur's Chandel district:

• Army chief Dalbir Singh, after his visit to Manipur where he took stock of the situation, met NSA Ajit Doval.  
• Reports say senior Indian Army officers will take part in a formal wreath-laying ceremony early on Saturday at the Imphal International Airport.
• As per sources, post-mortem of seven of the 18 soldiers killed in yesterday's attack has been completed, and the post-mortem of the remaining eleven will be completed by this evening.
• PTI has reported that a massive combing operation is underway in Manipur to track down insurgents in areas of Chandel district where 18 Army jawans were killed and 11 others injured in an ambush yesterday. The search operation was being conducted by the Army and Assam Rifles personnel at Paralong, Charong, Moltuh and some other areas to track down the insurgents who had launched attack on the Army jawans.
• Defence Ministry spokesman Lt Col S Newton has told reporters in Guwahati that the Army Chief is expected to visit Chandel district where the Dogra Regiment soldiers were killed on Thursday morning.
• News agency ANI has reported that in total, three militant organisations have claimed responsibility for yesterday's attack on the Army convoy. Apart from NSCN-K, the Kanglei Yawol Kanna Lup (KYKL) and the Kangleipak Communist Party (KCP) have also reportedly claimed responsibility for the ambush.
• Army Chief General Dalbir Singh Suhag has arrived in Imphal. He is holding a high-level meet to review the situation post yesterday's deadly attack. Reports say he might also honour soldiers killed in the attack.
• Union Minister of State in the Prime Minister's Office Jitendra Singh meets Home Minister Rajnath Singh to discuss the situation post Manipur attack. “Met Home Minister today who directed us to send as much help and security forces there,” Jitendra Singh told reporters.
• New agency ANI has tweeted some details of the 18 Armymen who were martyred in yesterday's Manipur attack – six were from J&K, seven from Himachal Pradesh, two from UP, and one each from Punjab, Madhya Pradesh and Karnataka.
• Army Chief General Dalbir Singh Suhag has left for Imphal and will reach the Manipur capitay shortly.
• Hours after 18 soldiers of the Indian Army's 6 Dogra Regiment were killed and 11 others injured in an ambush near Myanmar border in Manipur's Chandel district, militant group Nationalist Socialist Council of Nagaland-Khaplang [NSCN(K)] has claimed responsibility for the attack.

"An elite strike unit of Naga Army, Kanglei Yawol Kanna Lup (KYKL) and the Kangleipak Communist Party (KCP) carried out the ambush today (Thursday)," The NSCN-K said in a statement issued to the media.

It may be recalled that the NSCN(K) had pulled out of a ceasefire with the government in March this year.

• The Central government on Thursday ordered an all-out offensive against Northeast rebel groups in the wake of yesterday's attack. As per reports, the Centre has asked the Army to launch 'search and destroy' operations against NSCN(K) and other insurgent groups in the Northeast.

What happened on Thursday:

In one of the worst attacks suffered by the Indian Army in a decade, at least 18 soldiers were killed and 11 injured on Thursday when militants ambushed their convoy in Manipur's Chandel district.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar, Indian Army chief General Dalbir Singh, Congress president Sonia Gandhi and Home Minister Rajnath Singh, among others, condemned the attack.

Earlier reports said 20 soldiers were killed, but army officials later revised the toll to 18.

According to Army sources, the team that was attacked belonged to 6 Dogra Regiment and was an administrative convoy moving out of its location.

The attack occurred between Paralong and Charong villages around 8.30 am when militants used improvised explosive devices (IEDs) and rocket-propelled grenades (RPGs) while also opened heavy fire at the four-vehicle convoy.

Most of the bodies were charred, officials said.

Those injured were airlifted to Leimakhong military hospital near Imphal, while a reinforcement party was rushed to the spot for combing operations.

"One of the vehicles - probably the first vehicle in the convoy - which was hit first by the RPG caught fire immediately," a defence spokesman said. The soldiers retaliated but the militants managed to escape.

According to reports, the area has been on the boil after a woman was allegedly killed by troopers of the paramilitary Assam Rifles. Reports also said there was a shutdown in Chandel over the incident.

Insiders, meanwhile, said it was a major intelligence failure.

According to officials, this was the worst attack on the Indian Army in over a decade in which so many personnel lost their lives.

Lately, a surge in such attacks has been noticed in the Northeast.

On April 2, three soldiers were killed in an ambush by NSCN-K in Arunachal Pradesh's Tirap district. On May 3, seven Assam Rifles troopers and one personnel of the Territorial Army were killed in another ambush in Nagaland's Mon district by joint forces of the newly-floated United Liberation Front of Western South East Asia comprising NSCN-K, ULFA, Kamatapur Liberation Organisation and NDFB-Songbijit.

Defence expert, Brig SK Chatterji (retd) said the attack indicates external interference in the area was on the rise.

"There are reports that a month and a half back, leaders of these groups travelled to China. It can be a desperate step to disturb peace, specially since the new government has been firm on the boundary issues," Chatterji told IANS.

Manipur, which shares a 398-km border with Myanmar, has about 40 militant outfits.

While more than 20 armed groups have ceasefire agreements with the state and central governments, the Coordination Committee, an umbrella group of six major militant outfits, has been rejecting the offer for peace talks.