Ten armed Myanmar men who were killed last week by Indian paramilitaries in Manipur were members of the resistance People’s Defense Team (PDT) from neighboring Tamu Township in Sagaing Region, sources there claim.
The Indian government has described the dead as armed extremists involved in cross-border insurgent activities.
The Indian Army’s Eastern Command said on X that the operation by the Assam Rifles, a paramilitary force under the operational control of the Indian Army, was based on intelligence regarding the movement of “armed cadres” near New Samtal village in Manipur’s Chandel district.
It provided no further details about the identities of those killed.
Tamu locals said the Indian paramilitaries were shooting across the border. “The PDT outpost can be seen from the border fence,” a local said. “Patrolling Assam Rifles saw the outpost and opened fire on it. I heard that the 10 who were killed were from Tamu District PDT.”
But the Indian government’s Press Information Bureau said the patrol was “fired upon heavily by suspected cadres,” and the Assam Rifles only fired back.
“A significant cache of weapons, including seven AK-47 rifles, one RGP launcher, one M4 rifle, and four single-barrel breech-loading rifles, ammunition, and other war-like stores were recovered,” it added.
The Indian side reportedly handed over the bodies to Myanmar resistance fighters on May 16.
The parallel National Unity Government (NUG) said it is in talks with Indian authorities to find out the truth based on reports from the ground.
A resistance fighter commented: “Their faces bore injuries, and their bodies had gunshot wounds. They were wrapped in tarpaulin and sent back. But they’d never crossed the border into India. The killings happened on Myanmar side.”
“We are fighting against a military dictatorship—we are not bandits or criminals,” the fighter added. “India as a democratic nation should not have done this.”
There are ethnic tensions in the borderlands between the Meitei minority, who are aligned with the Myanmar junta and make up the majority over the border in Manipur, and Sagaing’s Bamar majority. Clashes between the resistance and junta forces made up of ethnic Shanni and Meiti troops have been flaring up since January.
