MON, AUGUST 13 (MExN): One civilian and an Assam Rifles personnel were injured in a grenade attack by unidentified assailants in Mon on August 12. The Mon Police, in a press release, stated the incident occurred around 5:00 pm at a place called Thromjan, located between Chenloisho and Wangti villages when 28 AR personnel were assisting the local populace clear a road.
As per the release, three grenades were lobbed targeting an earth excavator belonging to the D Company, 28 AR.
“Reportedly two of the grenades failed to detonate and the explosion of the other grenade caused injury to one personnel of Assam Rifles and one civilian, namely, Kaipa Konyak (60 years) of Chenloisho village,” it said. The identity of the injured AR soldier was not disclosed.
The conditions of both the wounded, who were admitted to the Mon District Hospital, were stated to be “out of danger.” The release added that police investigation was underway.
The Assam Rifles, in a separate press release, alleged that the grenade attack was the handiwork of the NSCN (K-Yung Aung).
According to the AR release, on August 12, personnel of the AR base at Chenloisho were clearing a landslide at the Chenloisho-Hydro project road together with the local residents from Kangynu, Wangti and Chenloisho villages. The civic exercise was undertaken on the request of the Chenloisho village chairman, it added.
The release said, “In the evening, when the villagers and the Assam rifles personnel were returning… three hand grenades were lobbed at them from a height above the dense foliage.”
Only one grenade exploded resulting in the injury of a civilian, it said, while adding that the AR personnel responded with firing “a couple of rounds towards the assessed location from where the grenades were lobbed.”
While terming it as “cowardly action against locals and security forces,” the release added that the act only displays that the NSCN (K-Yung Aung) is desperate since the villagers have declined support to the cadres.
The civilian, who was said to have sustained shrapnel wounds, was initially treated at the AR base before being relocated to Mon town. The release however did not make mention of the injury to the AR personnel as stated in the Mon police press release.
