New Delhi: Fresh violence erupted in strife-torn Manipur on Monday (January 26) when the Zeliangrong United Front (ZUF) – a Naga rebel group – set several houses on fire at the K Songlung (II) village in the Kangpokpi district of the hill state. Following the incident, villagers fled the area, reported New Indian Express.In a statement, the ZUF blamed “illegal immigrants” for illegal poppy cultivation, narcotics trafficking, and unlawful encroachment in what it claimed to be the “ancestral, customary, and historical territory” of the Zeliangrong Inpui Naga people.The outfit said that it has intensified its campaign against such people after repeated “public alerts” were not heeded to. The ZUF claimed that it burned down farmhouses, farms and dismantled what it termed as “unauthorised structures and materials used in illegal poppy cultivation,” reported New Indian Express.“Those involved have deliberately ignored the will of the indigenous people and continued illegal activities that seriously threatened public safety, indigenous land rights, and the future of the region,” said the ZUF in the statement.It further added that “no foreign or illegal settlers” would be permitted to exploit, occupy, or degrade the ancestral land of the Zeliangrong Inpui Naga people under any pretext.Reacting to the development, the Kuki-Zo organisation Committee on Tribal Unity (CoTU) said that the “razing of the village” in broad daylight not only raised the question of security preparedness by authorities but demeaned constitutional authority of the Governor in the state to exercise his powers to contain such elements from unsettling peace.Manipur has been under President’s rule since February 13 last year.“Kuki-Zo villages such as Lhangjol, Loibol Kholen, Kharam Vaiphei and K Songlung (II) in the fringes of Kangpokpi have been constantly considered a soft target by the ZUF,” said the CoTU in a statement.The CoTU also warned the government that if the culprits are not arrested within 24 hours, it would impose total shutdown on two national highways, which are the lifelines of Manipur, from January 27 midnight till January 28 midnight.Meanwhile, the Sadar Hill Chiefs’ Association said the K Songlung is a recognised Kuki village and it never cultivated poppy.The ethnic violence in Manipur since 2023 has resulted in the deaths of 260 people and the displacement of 60,000 others.