The United Kuki National Army (UKNA) stated that the outfit “will surrender ourselves once the Separate Administration (UT) demand is fulfilled,” reaffirming its stand for a Separate Administration from Manipur State. The group condemned the Assam Rifles operation at Khanpi in Churachandpur district today, which led to the death of four of its armed cadres, terming it a “cowardly act by people acting in connivance with security forces.”
According to Assam Rifles’ information, the four terrorists were neutralized after they fired on an Assam Rifles convoy during an operation. The group has been linked to a series of recent violent incidents, including the killing of a village chief in late October 2025, intimidation of local civilians, and attempts to disrupt peace and stability in the region. In July 2025, the outfit also claimed responsibility for an ambush that killed a deputy chief and two other members of the Kuki National Army (KNA), an SoO signatory group.
In a statement issued by UKNA, it said that they wanted to remind the Indian Army and all Kuki-Zo people that they were forced to flee the hills after “Meitei forces attacked them and declared war.” The statement added that their forefathers never acceded to merging the hills with the valley to form a single state. However, the ethnic cleansing drive of May 2023, allegedly led by then Chief Minister Biren Singh using the entire state machinery, had compelled them to take up arms in defense of their land and people.
According to reports, the UKNA is a non-SoO group concentrated in the Churachandpur district of Manipur, formed with the goal of creating a separate state for the Kuki people in Myanmar and India.
