Security forces and militants exchanged fire for a second day in Manipur’s border town Moreh, officials aware of the matter said on Monday, triggering panic in villages around the area in the strife-torn state.

Moreh, which borders Myanmar, has been on high alert after a spate of attacks by militants on security forces, especially those belonging to Manipur police commandos. Gunfight first broke out late on Sunday, before a break overnight, which was followed by a new bout between 8.15am of 1.30pm, locals and people in the security establishment said, asking not to be named.

At the heart of the repeated flare-up in violence, which first exploded into ethnic clashes in May and has claimed the lives of over 200 people, is persistent distrust between the Kuki community, which mostly lives in the hills, and the Meitei community that is dominant in the valley area.

The flare-up prompted villagers to flee their homes. “Monday’s firing happened at three places in New Moreh, Lhangkichoi and Zion Veng. Militants were posing as security forces and fired at the Kuki villages including mine. Around 200 villagers left their homes as soon as the firing started. We are currently staying at a building in another part of the town. We have been told that firing has stopped but do not want to get caught in the crossfire so we are not returning,” said K Minlun Touthang, chairman of unit 8(New Moreh), Hill Tribal Council (HTC) of Moreh.

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There are 13 different HTC units in Moreh, each headed by a chairperson.

On Sunday evening, security forces were engaged in a gunfight with militants at two different places near Moreh evening Bazar. At least 10 security personnel were injured but there were no casualties.

Kaikholal Haokip, spokesperson of the Kuki Inpi Tengnoupal, an umbrella group for Kukis in the district said: “The village volunteers are targeting the commando posts in Moreh because the Manipur police commandos are biased and are involved in killing of Kuki-Zo tribals. Many Meitei militant groups are also posing as commandos or security forces and attacking the Kuki villages.”

“Security forces retaliated, which has caused a lot of damage to public property. Mortars were fired at civilian population. The security forces such as Assam Rifles are holding peace talks with the locals and CSOs. We demand that the state police forces be replaced by the Centre’s paramilitary forces,” Haokip added.

A security force officer, aware of the details, confirmed the latest flare-up and said that as of Monday evening, “no one was injured”.

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The militants had fired at the security forces in the hills near Moreh town to which the forces responded appropriately,” this person said.

Tengnoupal’s new superintendent of police, Rahul Gupta was not available for a comment despite repeated calls and text messages.

Meanwhile, Kuki women held protests in Moreh and Kangpokpi on Monday demanding that Manipur police commandos be removed from the Kuki areas.

On December 30, a convoy of Manipur commandos came under fire, leaving one commando with a bullet injury. Later that night, militants attacked Manipur police commandos inside their barracks using rocket propelled grenades (RPG). Four Manipur commandos were injured.

On January 2, at least seven security personnel — four Manipur police commandos and 3 BSF personnel— on their way for a search operation were injured in an attack.

Last week, the village defence volunteers of Tengnoupal released a statement warning Manipur police to leave Moreh immediately. Other groups such as Kuki Inpi Tengnoupal and HTC supported the demand.

Chief minister Biren Singh last week told reporters that possibility of involvement of mercenaries from Myanmar in the attacks on personnel in Moreh could not be ruled out. “We have suspect involvement of foreign mercenaries from Myanmar side,” he said.