Manipur attack forcing Centre to rethink scaling back of troops in the Northeast?

An attack on a team of Assam Rifle in Manipur that led to death of a colonel, his wife and son, and 4 other personnel may have forced Centre review its decision to scale back troops deployed in Northeast for counter-insurgency operations, News18 reported.

The report said that the decision could affect troop deployment in Assam, Manipur, Arunachal Pradesh and Nagaland, where some of the active insurgent groups haven’t yet entered into a ceasefire agreement with the government.

Also watch: Assam Rifles commandant, his family and 4 soldiers killed in Manipur ambush

On Monday, three militants were killed in a joint operation by the Assam Rifles and Arunachal Pradesh police. The militants had kidnapped two civilians.

Earlier this year, Army chief General MM Naravane had said that the security situation in the Northeast had improved significantly. The Army even withdrew one of its brigades from the region.

The forces had planned reduce troops in the Northeast so that they can move away from internal security duties and focus on its primary duty of conventional warfare.

The News18 report stated that there were 162 attacks by insurgents in the Northeast from January 1 to October 31 this year, up from 132 in the corresponding period last year.