Media Reports: 5 Killed in Violence in India's Manipur State

Media reported on Friday that at least five people have been killed in the latest outbreak of violence in the troubled state of Manipur in northeastern India. The Hindustan Times stated that militants killed four members of the Meitei ethnic group on Thursday while they were tilling a farm, while the fifth victim, also a Meitei, was killed in a separate gunfight in the Imphal West region of the state. The media did not disclose the identities of the attackers. At least 180 people have been killed since fighting intensified between the majority Meitei group and the minority Kuki ethnic group in May, following a court order granting Meitei the privileges assigned to the Kuki community. Two police personnel were also killed on Wednesday in another attack by militants. Manipur, bordering Myanmar, is one of the smallest Indian states with a population of 3.2 million. The Kuki group makes up 16 percent of the state's population and lives in the hills, receiving economic privileges and quotas in government jobs and education, while the Meitei group, which dominates the more prosperous plains, constitutes 53 percent of Manipur's population.