Manipur ambush: Post-mortem of soldiers likely to be completed by evening
Imphal: Chief of Army Staff General Dalbir Singh has arrived here to review the situation on ground with locally deployed senior army officers a day after militants ambushed and killed 18 soldiers and injured 11 others who were part of an army convoy that was passing through Manipur's Chandel District.
Though the army and the state civil administration are tightlipped about giving out information on the tragic incident and its aftermath, as per informed sources, who were speaking on condition of anonymity, the post-mortem of seven of the 18 soldiers has been completed, and the post-mortem of the remaining eleven will be completed by this evening.
As per the information received so far, senior Indian Army officers will take part in a formal wreath-laying ceremony early on Saturday at the Imphal International Airport. The media and the general public is also not being allowed access to the ambush site or to the institutions where the injured are being treated and where the coffins of the dead soldiers have been kept for their onward journey to their respective hometowns.
Meanwhile, the Naga insurgent outfit Nationalist Socialist Council of Nagaland-A (NSCN) along with Manipuri outfit Kangleipak Communist Party (KCP) and Kanglei Yawol Kanna Lup (KYKL) has claimed responsibility for the attack on an Indian Army convoy in which at least 18 soldiers were killed in Manipur on Thursday.
The attack on the 6 Dogra Infantry Regiment took place as it was was being de-inducted from the area. Eighteen soldiers were killed and 11 were injured after terrorists ambushed a convoy of the 6 Dogra under Tengnoupal Police Station in Chandel District of Manipur.
According to sources, the attackers came from Myanmar and more than one insurgent group could be involved. The National Investigating Agency (NIA) will register a case. At a high-level meeting in Delhi soon after the attack which was attended by Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh, Defence Minister Parrikkar, the National Security Advisor (NSA) Ajit Doval and Army chief General Dalbir Singh Suhag, a decision was taken to increase the intensity of the operations and deploy more forces in the area.
The government has also decided to seal the India-Myanmar border in Manipur and directed all installations of the security forces in Manipur and Nagaland to be on high alert to foil any attempt by the terrorists to strike again.
The army convoy was on a road opening patrol and was attacked with rocket propelled grenades (RPGs) and improvised explosive devices (IEDs). After the army vehicle was damaged, the terrorists used automatic rifles to fire indiscriminately at the soldiers resulting in the heavy casualty. Some terrorists have also been killed in the retaliatory fire by the soldiers.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi condemned the attack as mindless and very distressing, and offered his tribute to the dead soldiers and condolences to their respective families.
