MUMBAI: Schools have been ordered closed from Saturday in India's restive Manipur state after a rocket attack by insurgents killed one civilian and wounded six others.
Fighting broke out in the northeastern state more than a year ago between the predominantly Hindu Meitei community and the predominantly Christian Kuki community.
Since then, conflict has simmered, dividing communities that previously cohabited along ethnic lines.
A local government notice said all schools in the state would be closed on Saturday, when classes are usually held, to protect the “safety of students and teachers.”
The day before, a rebel group had fired rockets in the state's Bishnupur district, an attack that local police attributed to “Kuki militants”.
A police statement said a 78-year-old man was killed in the attack and six people were injured.
The officers who responded to the attack “came under fire from suspected Kuki militants, but the police team responded firmly and repelled the attack,” the statement said.
Local media reported that the elderly man was killed when a rocket hit the residence of the late Mairenbam Koireng Singh, former chief minister of Manipur.
He Indian Express The paper, citing an unnamed security source, said the rockets appeared to be “improvised projectiles” made from “galvanized iron pipes attached to explosives.”
Friday's attack came days after insurgents used drones to drop explosives in what police called a “significant escalation” of violence in the state.
A 31-year-old woman was killed and six people were injured in the incident, which police described as an “unprecedented attack” by the rebels.
Long-standing tensions between the Meitei and Kuki communities revolve around competition for land and public jobs, with human rights activists accusing local leaders of exacerbating ethnic divisions for political gain.
