13 civilians have been killed by security forces in Nagaland’s Mon district. The men were daily wage labourers.#Nagaland 1/n
Army’s 3 Corps in Dimapur has issued a statement owning responsibility for the killings. Court of Inquiry has been ordered. Govt has ordered an SIT probe. 2/n
The labourers were returning home to Oting village from a coal mine, about 15 kilometres away in Tiru when they were attacked by security forces. #Nagaland 3/n
The labourers typically come home from the mine on Saturday and spend time with their families before returning back to work. 4/n
The troops had planned an operation against members of the banned NSCN-Khaplang-YA, based on as their statement says “credible intelligence inputs about movement of insurgents” 5/n
The input was specific according to two officers in the area—of specific movement in a particular vehicle, following which the area was cordoned off. It is believed that the local coal miners were in a similar vehicle and did not stop—when the troops fired. 6/n
Family members of the deceased miners have so far refused to accept their bodies. A few tribes have withdrawn from the annual Hornbill festival on at Kisama. 7/n
Black flags at Hornbill festival. Two vehicles of security forces were torched by villagers. One soldier has succumbed to injuries. 8/n
A reminder Nagaland is under the Armed Forces Special Powers Act #AFSPA
“The nearer one comes to a war zone, the less one hears of a grand strategy”—Steinbeck’s words hold particularly true for #Nagaland, Manipur, where the Army shares a tense, volatile, tricky space and holds together a peace framework that no one has a clue about.
For years it has struggled to disentangling the overground & the underground—and Saturday’s incident points to among other things the lack of credible intelligence. Everyone loves a good insurgency.
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