20 army personnel killed in Manipur militant ambush

A team of 6 Dogra Regiment was on a road opening patrol (ROP) as part of its daily routine along Tengnoupal-New Samtal road, about 80 km from Imphal, when it was attacked by an unidentified insurgent outfit first with a powerful Improvised Explosive Device (IED), a police official said in Imphal.

After the IED blast, the insurgents resorted to heavy firing at the convoy of four Army vehicles with RPGs and automatic weapons, Army sources said in Delhi.

"20 army personnel were killed and 11 injured in the attack," Army spokesman Col Rohan Anand said in Delhi.

A suspected insurgent was also killed, police said.

The attack occurred at 9 am(EDs correct) when the convoy reached a place between <g data-gr-id="37">Paralong</g> and <g data-gr-id="38">Charong</g> villages. More details are awaited.

Manipur Home Secretary J Suresh Babu suspected the involvement of Manipur rebel outfit Peoples Liberation Army (PLA) in the deadly attack.

"This seems to be the work of PLA, with suspected support by the 'KYKL' group also. We are still waiting for more inputs to come in," he added. Kanglei Yawol Kanna Lup (KYKL) is a Meitei revolutionary organization in Manipur.

A reinforcement party of the security forces was rushed to the spot for combing operation to nab the militants, police said.