VVEZ Refutes Statement by Naga Village Guards Eastern Command and MLA Leishiyo Keishing

Village Volunteers Eastern Zone (VVEZ) has refuted the statement issued by the so-called Naga Village Guards Eastern Command and the remarks made by Phungyar MLA Leishiyo Keishing to the media regarding Wednesday's incident and the preceding incidents.

In a release, VVEZ stated that it had previously clarified its foundational stance, emphasizing that it harbours no malice, animosity, or grievance against the Naga community at large or the Tangkhul community in particular.

"Our defensive operations are strictly necessitated by the ongoing campaign of ethnic cleansing targeted at our community, orchestrated and sponsored by Meitei state-backed actors," VVEZ stated.

The release further stated that the political aspiration of the Kuki-Zo people for a Separate Administration in the form of a Union Territory with a Legislature is a distinct administrative demand that does not infringe upon or concern neighbouring tribes.

Stating that it had repeatedly appealed for peace and stability in Kamjong District, VVEZ alleged that these efforts had been continuously undermined by deliberate acts of aggression.

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Outlining what it described as a chronology of provocations and retaliations, VVEZ claimed that Tangkhul militants set fire to Lanchah Kuki Village on May 6, 2026, disregarding calls for peace. It stated that VVEZ subsequently retaliated by burning a few Tangkhul structures in Choro, Namlee, and Wanglee.

VVEZ further alleged that on May 12, 2026, the same Tangkhul militants, in collusion with the Shanni Nationalist Army (SNA), razed Molnoi Village in Myanmar. However, it said VVEZ abstained from intervention as the incident occurred outside its immediate territorial jurisdiction.

According to the release, on June 11, 2026, Tangkhul militants and the SNA burned Kultuh Kuki Village and executed two church leaders. Despite what it described as a grave provocation, VVEZ said it deliberately chose not to retaliate in order to prevent an endless cycle of violence and allow an opportunity for a peaceful resolution.

VVEZ further alleged that on July 1, 2026, Tangkhul militants and the Myanmar-based SNA launched another offensive by burning Phaimol Kuki Village. Consequently, it claimed to have carried out a retaliatory strike on Konkan Thana and Shangkalok, which it described as historically constituting Kuki ancestral lands prior to the 1990s Kuki–NSCN (IM) conflict.

"Let it be known that our strategic forbearance has been exhausted. Every subsequent act of aggression will incur a severe, swift, and commensurate response. We are fully cognizant of your underlying machinations. You are attempting to manufacture a contrived collective adversarial paradigm against the Kuki community to facilitate reconciliation between your fractured factions, especially the NSCN-IM and the NSCN Eastern Flank.

"In selecting the Kuki community as the scapegoat to achieve internal political consolidation among Naga militants, you have committed a catastrophic strategic miscalculation," VVEZ said.