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United Kuki Liberation Front
Formation
The United Kuki Liberation
Front (UKLF) is one of the several small militant groups fighting for
an ethnic Kuki state, Kukiland. The outfit was formed on March 29, 2000.
Objective
The purported objective
of the UKLF is to uphold the interests of the Kuki community and form
a separate Kuki state called 'Kukiland'.
Leadership
S.S. Haokip is the 'Commander-in-Chief',
while N.C. Brollint Baite is the 'Information and Publicity Secretary'.
The exact cadre strength of the UKLF is
not known although reports indicate that is a small outfit.
Areas of Operation
The outfit is active primarily
in the Churachandpur district of Manipur. However, their presence has
also been notices in the Kuki-inhabited areas of the Chandel and Senapati
districts.
Source
of Funding
The UKLF funds its activities
primarily through extortion and collection of 'protection fees' from
the civilians in its areas of operation.
Linkages
with Other Groups
It reportedly has close
financial and military links with the Isak Muivah faction of the National
Socialist Council of Nagaland (NSCN-IM).
Major incidents
2008
-
February 20: Konsam Tomba, a former
Irrigation and Flood Control minister, is abducted by suspected
UKLF militants. However, he manages to escape from the militants'
captivity next day and later informed the media that after escaping
from the abductors, he was in a forest for two days before being
rescued by the Thoubal district police.
-
January 13: The UKLF claims responsibility
for the killing of one Tongkhohao alias Haopu Haokip of Sinam village
in the Chandel district. The outfit's 'information and publicity
secretary' T.H. James Bond accused Haopu and his accomplice, Lunminthang
Haokip, of assaulting a UKLF cadre at Pallel without any provocation
on January 9. Haopu is a KNA defector.
2007
-
December 18: Three KNA militants,
'l/cpl' Lanmilien alias Timothy Haokip, 'pvt' Haokholet alias Albert
Lhungdim and Henry alias Khailen, defect to the UKLF along with
one AK 56 rifle with two magazines loaded with 150 rounds, one US
Carbine with two magazines containing 150 rounds, a lathode propeller
(80-mm) and 10 bombs, one M-21 rifle with 100 live rounds, one walkie-talkie
set. This was reportedly the second case of defection from the KNA
to the UKLF in 2007.
-
April 23: Police arrested one UKLF
cadre, identified as Chonminlal Zou alias Chonchon alias Lalboi,
at Khurai Lamlong bridge in the Imphal East district.
2006
-
March 30: The ‘celebration
of the 6th Raising Day’ of the proscribed UKLF was reportedly attended
by cadres of the NSCN-IM at a place in the Chandel district on an
unspecified date.
-
April 20: The UKLF
claimed that it had 'awarded capital punishment' to one Letngam
Khongthang, who was the chief in charge of Maokot village in Manipur
for ignoring the outfit’s warnings.
-
June 12: SF personnel
arrested a UNLF cadre, Arangbam Satrajit alias Naopet, from Khurai
Nandeibam Leikai in the Imphal city.
-
June 16: One of four
district supply officers of the state food and civil supplies department,
S. Puni, who was abducted by the UKLF
on June 12, was rescued by
a team of Manipur police from a spot near Aimol village under Thoubal
police station limits.
-
July 19: The UKLF in
a statement made available to the local media warned the people
of Chandel district against giving any sort of support or monetary
assistance to any Kuki militant outfits other than UKLF and KNA.
-
February 9: UKLF claims to have killed
a civilian, Jangthong Khongsai, for his alleged 'anti-people and
anti-party activities, including extortion and harassment of innocent
people, at Sugnu in the Thoubal district.
2005
2004
-
July 7: Three suspected UKLF cadres, including the Imphal 'town
commander' and the '2nd lieutenant' in its 'finance department',
are killed by the police during an encounter in the Langol reserve
forest area near Lainingkhul village in Imphal West district.
2003
-
February 16: Unidentified assailants
kill three UKLF cadres at New Lamka in the Churachandpur district.
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July 11: Two UKLF cadres, including
a 'sergeant', surrender before the Manipur Chief Minister, Okram
Ibobi Singh, in Imphal along with a M-16 rifle, two magazines and
203 rounds of ammunition.
2002
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