Suspected Militants Ambush Two Cars on Imphal-Ukhrul Highway in Manipur, Killing Four

Suspected militants ambushed two passenger vehicles along the Imphal-Ukhrul road in Manipur on Friday, killing two men and two women on the spot.

Gunfire erupted without warning in the New Heaven area of Ukhrul district as the armed assailants intercepted the two four-wheelers on the arterial transit route. The barrage shattered both windshields, leaving no escape for the occupants inside.

"Two men and two women, who were travelling in the two cars, died on the spot," a senior police officer confirmed. "Bullet marks were seen on the windshields of the two vehicles."

Ambush on the Imphal-Ukhrul Highway

Police teams rushed to the New Heaven stretch immediately following the ambush to secure the perimeter and clear the highway. The killings mark another deadly spike in attacks targeting transit corridors connecting valley areas with the surrounding hills.

Yet the violence was already spiraling. Just twenty-four hours earlier, armed clashes flared across the border of Kangpokpi and Senapati districts. In that engagement, rival armed groups traded sustained fire near Taphou village in Kangpokpi and Kailengjang in Senapati. The crossfire left a 42-year-old woman dead from gunshot wounds and two men nursing critical injuries.

Escalating Toll Across Hill Districts

Bloodshed has repeatedly surged through the hill districts since the turn of the year, defying multiple security deployments. At least 50 people have been killed in inter-community clashes and militant ambushes across the hill belts since February alone.

Police and regional security units have widened search sweeps across the Imphal-Ukhrul corridor to track the assailants, with district authorities closely monitoring key transit corridors to prevent retaliatory attacks.