Manipur Police said weaponised drones were used to attack civilians on Sunday
For the first time, crisis-hit Manipur saw the use of drones to drop bombs, signalling a major escalation in the state hit by ethnic violence between the Meitei community and the Kuki tribes. Until yesterday, drones were used only for reconnaissance.
The Manipur Police on Sunday said suspected Kuki insurgents fired RPGs (rocket-propelled grenades) using high-tech drones. They said the use of drones to drop bombs on security forces and civilians marked a "significant escalation".
The matter becomes even more serious given the fact that the clashes between the valley-dominant Meitei community and the nearly two dozen tribes known as Kukis - a term given by the British in colonial times - who are dominant in some hill areas of Manipur, continue to break out intermittently as was seen on Sunday.
Top intelligence sources have confirmed the use of the weaponised drones and long-range sniper rifles in the attack on Koutruk village.
A 31-year-old woman from the Meitei community was killed in firing by suspected Kuki insurgents yesterday, the police said. Her 12-year-old daughter was among 10 injured, including two policemen and a local TV reporter. Most of the injured people had shrapnel wounds from explosives dropped by the drones, sources said.
The roof of a house which the locals claimed was damaged by a bomb dropped using a drone
Of RPGs, Bombs And Drones
The police's claim that drones were used to fire RPGs need to be checked with evidence, sources told NDTV.
The drones may have dropped explosives, but firing rocket-propelled grenades would need a much larger machine than the ones spotted on Sunday over Koutruk, sources said.
A drone can drop bombs with little modification - all one needs is a kind of hook to attach the bomb, such as a mortar round, to the drone along with an interlocking mechanism that can be unlocked using remote control, a retired officer told NDTV, requesting anonymity.
A drone that can fire rockets, however, would be a full military grade one, the officer said, adding it is unlikely the drones seen on Sunday fired any RPGs. "They must have dropped bombs only, not fired rockets," the officer said.
He said if drones are dropping mortar rounds, they would need to fly very high and the rounds need to hit hard, solid ground for the fuse to ignite. The rounds may not explode if it lands on soft ground, or if the release altitude is low, he added.
Dropping grenades from a drone - done commonly in Ukraine, Russia and elsewhere - is not a high-tech solution, another defence expert told NDTV. Firing rockets from a drone, however, is far more complicated and needs a weapon-aiming sight installed on the drone operator's monitor, the expert said.
Assam Special Task Force on June 15 seized 10 high-end drone batteries from a man who allegedly tried to bring them into Manipur
From Hobby To Something Else
Before May 2023, the month clashes began, many people had been flying drones for personal use such as to upload videos in social media platforms. Both communities have vloggers with thousands of followers on YouTube and Instagram. Some of them have invested in high-end drones that can take stunning videos and have decent range.
Then a change happened.
After May 3, drones flown by both sides frequently appeared over villages near the foothills, sources in the security establishment have said. Though the drones would still work fine as tools for social media influencers or hobbyists, their appearance signalled a different usage pattern - they looked for 'enemy' positions, kept watch on them, and plotted attack or defence plans, they said.
Open Display On Social Media
Licypriya Kangujam, the child climate activist from Manipur, faced allegations from the Kuki tribes of buying expensive, high-end thermal drones and donating them to the Meitei volunteer defence group Arambai Tenggol.
Social media is full of videos showing both communities flaunting their drones.
In June this year, a man in Assam was arrested for allegedly sourcing drone parts to supply to a terror group in Manipur's valley areas, sources in the state police's special task force (STF) had said. The STF operatives had recovered a huge stock of drone parts from him.
In the same month, a man who allegedly tried to sneak into Manipur carrying 10 high-end drone batteries for a terror group was also arrested by the Assam STF. A filmmakers' association of the Kuki tribes in Manipur, however, had refuted the allegations against what it called a renowned member of the association, who simply bought the drone batteries for work.
The police had called the arrest a "major breakthrough", pointing at the use of beyond line-of-sight, military-grade drones by armed groups in Manipur amid the Meitei-Kuki ethnic conflict.
Drones have been used to bomb Myanmar's junta army targets by Chin insurgents in Chin State (File)
What About Myanmar, Just Across The Border
Drones have been used to bomb Myanmar's junta army targets by Chin insurgents in Chin State, bordering India's Manipur. But this was the first time they were used in Manipur.
Meitei civil society groups and even retired military officers have long alleged Myanmar's Chin insurgents who share ethnic ties with the Kuki tribes living in India have been helping them, though the security forces and agencies haven't given any evidence of it.
The clashes between the valley-dominant Meitei community and nearly two dozen tribes known as Kukis - a term given by the British in colonial times - who are dominant in some hill areas of Manipur, has killed over 220 people and internally displaced nearly 50,000.
The general category Meiteis want to be included under the Scheduled Tribes category, while the nearly two dozen tribes that share ethnic ties with people in neighbouring Myanmar's Chin State and Mizoram want a separate administration carved out of Manipur, citing discrimination and unequal share of resources and power with the Meiteis.
With inputs from Ratnadip Choudhury