MANIPUR: A day after a surprising uptick in skirmishes and gunfire between militants and security personnel, there was an unsettling calm in Manipur, the state afflicted by ethnic conflict, Officials said on Monday.

Five people were killed in skirmishes the previous day, they claimed, adding three more who were being treated in hospitals at the time of their deaths. An official reported that search activities by the army and paramilitary men were still being conducted throughout the Imphal valley and other regions. According to him, the Army operation aims to seize illegal arms stores. In various incidents of shooting at civilians and battles between militants and security personnel, the police reported on Sunday that at least two people had died and 12 had been injured.

N Biren Singh, the chief minister of Manipur, claimed that since security forces launched an operation to restore peace to the northeastern state plagued by ethnic rioting, close to 40 armed terrorists who torched homes and opened fire on civilians had been slain. According to officials, the most recent conflicts started when the army and paramilitary groups started conducting operations to disarm communities in an effort to restore peace.

One person was killed and another received gunshot wounds after being fired upon by alleged Kuki militants on Sunday in Phayeng in Imphal West district, according to police officials.  At Sugnu, a policeman was killed and another was hurt in a shooting. Additionally, six people were hurt in Sugnu, and four more in Serou.

The 11-hour curfew relaxation period in Imphal East and West districts has been reduced to just six and a half hours by district authorities in response to the most recent acts of violence.

Over 75 people have died in ethnic confrontations that started in Manipur after a "Tribal Solidarity March" was held there on May 3 to oppose the Meitei community's desire for Scheduled Tribe (ST) designation. Tension over the displacement of Kuki people from reserve forest area had caused a number of smaller agitations before to the violence.

The majority of Meiteis, who make up around 53% of Manipur's population, reside in the Imphal Valley. Another 40% of the population is made up of the Naga and Kuki tribal groups, who live in the hill districts.

To restore order to the northeastern state, approximately 10,000 soldiers from the Assam Rifles and over 140 columns of the Indian Army had to be sent in addition to those from other paramilitary groups.

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