“Will Engage and Neutralise Anywhere”: Kuki-Zo Village Volunteers Issues Stern Warning Against Naga Revolutionary Eastern Front

In a sharply worded press statement, the Kuki-Zo Village Volunteers Central Defence Committee (KZVV-CDC) has issued a stern warning against the Naga Revolutionary Eastern Front (NREF), declaring that its cadres will be treated as hostile elements and “engaged and neutralised wherever encountered” in defence of Kuki-Zo areas.

The KZVV Central Defence Committee accused the little-known militant outfit of playing a “dangerous and destabilising role” in the escalating tensions across Manipur's Ukhrul–Kamjong–Kangpokpi fringe belt. It alleged that the NREF is operating with covert support from certain valley-based underground groups, with a deliberate agenda to incite unrest and fracture relations between Kuki and Naga communities.

Calling the development deeply alarming, the KZVV-CDC stated that such coordinated actions are part of a calculated attempt to disrupt long-standing inter-community harmony and provoke hostility in otherwise sensitive areas.

The statement comes in the wake of a gruesome incident earlier this month, where two Kuki-Zo villagers were abducted on March 11 while repairing water supply pipelines and were later found brutally murdered inside a forest area on the morning of March 12. The KZVV described the killings as “barbaric and inhumane,” holding NREF cadres responsible.

Drawing parallels with past violence, the KZVV-CDC also recalled the August 18, 2023 killings of three Kuki-Zo Village Volunteers at Thawai Kuki village, allegedly carried out by militants linked to valley-based underground networks. It asserted that the recurring pattern of targeted attacks points to a broader design aimed at destabilising the region.

“In light of continued provocations and targeted violence, any presence of NREF cadres within or around Kuki-Zo areas will be treated as a direct threat,” the statement said, adding that the organisation “will not hesitate to take decisive action, including engaging and neutralising such elements wherever encountered.”

At the same time, the KZVV-CDC made an appeal to Naga communities not to be misled by what it termed as “fringe and disruptive elements,” whose sole objective is to ignite hostility and conflict, asserting that the NREF actions must be unequivocally rejected.

The KZVV-CDC further called on all communities to deny shelter, support, or safe haven to the outfit, warning that any association would be viewed as complicity in its violent agenda. It urged immediate severance of ties with such groups in the interest of peace and stability.

Reaffirming its stance, the KZVV-CDC stated that while it remains committed to safeguarding communal harmony, it will respond “firmly and without compromise” to any threat against its people.