Five people, including a woman, were killed in fresh clashes between armed groups in Manipur’s Kamjong and Ukhrul districts on Saturday, according to official sources. Those killed included two Kukis, including the woman, two Nagas and one Nepali citizen.A 22-year-old man and a 42-year-old woman were killed in Kuki-dominated Chassad village in Naga-majority Kamjong district, officials said.The woman, a mother of five, was shot in the neck on Friday night and died within minutes, they said.Her killing triggered an exchange of fire between Kuki and Naga armed groups, which continued on Saturday morning.The man was killed in the ensuing clashes, during which 10 houses were also torched, they added.The district authorities imposed prohibitory orders under Section 162 of the BNSS within a 400-metre radius of the Chassad police gate junction to prevent further violence. The restrictions prohibit the assembly of five or more people.In a separate incident, suspected militants entered Ningchou village, a Tangkhul Naga settlement near the Myanmar border in Kamjong, and opened fire, officials said.Two persons, identified as 35-year-old Ngachanso Ningshen and 48-year-old Leishishan Leishadang, were shot dead, they said.Security forces rushed to the village after the incident and brought the situation under control.Local villagers claimed the attackers fled towards the Myanmar side after firing.The bodies have been sent to the Kamjong district hospital for postmortem examination, officials said.In another incident in Ukhrul district, 40-year-old Sandeep Rai was shot dead near Chepu Yaolen after suspected militants opened fire on his vehicle. He died inside the four-wheeler he was driving, officials said.A heavy exchange of fire was also reported between armed groups at Makui Ashang and Tapon in Kangpokpi district.More than 40 people have been killed and dozens of houses torched since violence between Kuki and Naga communities broke out in May this year.The violence has largely been concentrated in Ukhrul, Kamjong, Kangpokpi, Tamenglong and Noney districts, as well as parts of Senapati district.Security forces have been conducting search operations and area domination exercises in fringe and vulnerable localities across all districts of Manipur since ethnic violence broke out three years ago.More than 260 people have been killed and thousands rendered homeless in ethnic strife between Meiteis and Kuki-Zo groups since May 2023.Meanwhile, Kuki Inpi Manipur, the apex body of Kuki tribes, “vehemently” and “unequivocally” condemned “the series of coordinated, unprovoked, and brutal attacks carried out against innocent Kuki-Zo civilians across Chassad in Kamjong district, Yaolen in Ukhrul district, and the IT Road area in Kangpokpi district”.“These cowardly acts of aggression were orchestrated by NSCN-IM and NSCN-Eastern Flank elements in active collusion with state security forces, including Tangkhul state police and the Indian Reserve Battalion (IRB),” the tribal body said in a statement issued on Saturday.“We remind the central and state authorities that lasting peace cannot be achieved through selective justice, state-backed terror, or the appeasement of militant factions. The Kuki-Zo community will no longer remain silent in the face of state-sponsored partiality and existential threats, and we call upon national and international human rights organisations to take immediate cognisance of these grave violations,” Kuki Inpi said in the statement.