New Delhi: In the latest act of violence in strife-torn Manipur, unidentified persons shot dead a minor Naga teenager in Manipur’s Tamenglong district on Monday (September 21), reported Press Trust of India.The 17-year-old boy was walking alone from upper Nkou village to Tamei town when he was attacked around 10.30 am on Monday, said the police.Later, Naga village volunteers found his body along a narrow path, said officials.According to the authorities, since clashes erupted between the Naga and Kuki communities in February, more than 40 people have been killed in the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)-ruled state.The latest incident comes within a week of the killings of two Kuki women who were shot dead by unidentified gunmen in Tamenglong on September 15. Hours later, suspected militants allegedly burnt down at lease two houses at a Naga village in neighbouring Kangpokpi district.Prior to that, four Kuki people, two of whom were women, were killed in two attacks by suspected militants in Tamenglong and Noney districts on September 13.Amid the clashes between the two communities, Kangpokpi, Tamenglong, Noney, Ukhrul and Kamjong continue to remain the most affected districts where incidents of violence have been reported.The ethnic conflict in Manipur which began in May 2023 has claimed at least 306 lives. Thousands are homeless in what is now an ethnically divided state.The ruling BJP is facing severe criticism over its handling the crisis and failure to stop incidents of violence. Manipur’s political trajectory over the past three years has seen multiple shifts, but little substantive change on the ground. From N. Biren Singh’s government to a period of President’s Rule, and now under chief minister Y. Khemchand Singh, the promise of restoring normalcy has largely remained stalled.