POBNEWS24, Dhaka Sept 7, 2024 : Schools were ordered shut from Saturday in the restive Indian state of Manipur after a rocket attack by insurgents killed a civilian and wounded six others.
Fighting broke out in the northeastern state more than a year ago between the predominantly Hindu Meitei majority and the mainly Christian Kuki community.
The conflict has simmered since then, splitting previously cohabitating communities 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 the 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 extremists’.
A police statement said a 78-year-old man was killed in the barrage and six people were wounded.
Officers responding to the attack ‘were fired upon by suspected Kuki militants but the police team retaliated robustly and repelled the attack’, the statement said.
