Two Assam Rifles Personnel Killed in Manipur Ambush

Ongoing conflicts in Sudan, Nigeria and India's Manipur state continue to drive displacement, economic losses and violence, with new attacks reported in Manipur and persistent herder-farmer clashes in Nigeria.

Manipur Ambush Kills Two Assam Rifles Personnel

Two Assam Rifles personnel were killed in an ambush by suspected militants on NH-202 in Manipur's Ukhrul district. [3] The incident took place around 2pm when personnel of 40 Assam Rifles were travelling to their battalion headquarters at Shangshak from Ukhrul headquarters. [3] Security forces rushed to the site of attack, and there was an exchange of fire, with further operations under way to neutralise the militants. [3] The two personnel, identified as Warrant Officer Balwant Singh and constable CM Singh, who was reportedly driving the vehicle at the time of the attack, were critically injured in the ambush and later succumbed to their injuries. [3] According to local villagers, heavy gunfire and multiple explosions rocked the area for nearly two hours. [3]

Context of Manipur's Ongoing Ethnic Conflict

Monday's attack on Assam Rifles personnel, about 17 km from Ukhrul district headquarters, marks the second major strike on Assam Rifles personnel since the outbreak of the Manipur ethnic conflict in May 2023. [3] The previous incident was the Sept 2025 assault in Nambol in Bishnupur district that killed two and injured five other personnel. [3] No militant group has claimed responsibility, and the Assam Rifles has yet to issue an official statement on the incident. [3] However, the NSCN(IM), which has its stronghold in Ukhrul district, said the ambush is suspected to have been carried out by a "breakaway Eastern Flank faction". [3] The circumstances surrounding the ambush and the identity of the attackers were not immediately known. [3]

Nigeria's Herder Violence Undermines Food Security and Welfare

Another authoritative report has confirmed that open grazing has become one of the country’s gravest security and economic disasters. [2] The new report, “Insecurity, Livelihoods and Welfare in Northern Nigeria”, concludes that herders’ violence against farmers, banditry and insurgency are driving millions deeper into poverty and undermining the country’s food security. [2] Northern Nigeria is the country’s food basket, and when farmers abandon their lands because of violence, every Nigerian pays the price through soaring food inflation, shrinking agricultural production and worsening hunger. [2] The study relied on the Nigeria Living Standards Survey 2022/23, the Nigeria Demographic and Health Survey 2024, Armed Conflict Location and Event Data covering 2010 to 2025, and extensive fieldwork. [2] Households in the North-East affected by Boko Haram and ISWAP attacks recorded between eight and 14 per cent lower expenditure per adult equivalent when violent incidents occurred within two years before the survey. [2] Farmer-herder clashes had the most severe impact on near-poor households in the North-Central zone, resulting in a 14 per cent drop in expenditure at the 60th percentile, the largest single welfare effect recorded in the study. [2] In the North-West, banditry and kidnapping were linked to expenditure losses ranging from four to 11 per cent, particularly among moderately poor households. [2] The report recommends livelihood diversification, arguing that combining farming, non-farming and enterprise-based income-generating activities is the single most consistent protective factor across all three conflict types, and it also stresses peacebuilding as the foundation for rebuilding livelihoods. [2]

Calls for Ranching Reform in Nigeria

Those recommendations are sensible, but they do not tackle the root cause of one of Nigeria’s bloodiest conflicts. [2] Without replacing open grazing with modern ranching, every intervention amounts to treating the symptoms while ignoring the disease. [2] Open grazing has become synonymous with death, displacement, destruction and economic ruin, fuelling violent clashes, emptying farming communities, devastating agricultural production and creating fertile ground for bandits, kidnappers and terrorists. [2] The International Crisis Group observed that rising conflict between herders and farmers in Nigeria is already six times deadlier in 2018 than Boko Haram’s insurgency and has become Nigeria’s gravest security challenge. [2] The report, “Working Document – Fulani Militia’s Terror: Compilation of News (2017–2020),” states that Fulani herdsmen engaged in 654 attacks, killed 2,539 and kidnapped 253 people in Nigeria between 2017 and May 2, 2020. [2] Nigeria’s worsening security profile is reflected in its ranking as the sixth most terrorism-affected country in the 2025 Global Terrorism Index, up from eighth previously. [2] Violence in Plateau State has claimed more than 7,000 lives and displaced up to 220,000 people since 2001. [2] During the 2023 Christmas season alone, Fulani attacks reportedly killed 140 people in 62 Plateau communities. [2] Amnesty International reported in 2025 that more than 200 villages in Benue State were attacked and sacked by gunmen, while at least 450,000 residents were displaced. [2] Ranching confines livestock to managed facilities, drastically reduces conflict, improves cattle productivity, protects farmlands and enables displaced farmers to return safely to their communities. [2] Virtually every country with a successful livestock industry has abandoned unrestricted grazing. [2] Uruguay operates technology-driven ranches with computerised cattle traceability, and livestock exports account for about one-quarter of its export earnings. [2] With only about 3.7 million cattle, about one-sixth of Nigeria’s herd, the Netherlands produces 14.7 billion litres of milk annually, while Nigeria’s open grazing system produces a paltry 527 million litres. [2] While Nigeria spends about $560 million every year importing milk, the Dutch dairy industry earns approximately $10 billion annually. [2] According to the United States Department of Agriculture, Brazil, the United States, Australia and India together account for 73 per cent of the world’s cattle population. [2] Nigeria, by contrast, has about 20.9 million cattle, according to the National Bureau of Statistics. [2] The Land Use Act places land under the control of governors, who should use those powers decisively by banning open grazing and enforcing the law without fear or favour while supporting herders to establish ranches through financing, technical assistance and modern livestock infrastructure. [2]

Relative Stability Returns to Most of Sudan's Darfur

The Darfur region was the center of intense fighting in the early stages of the war. [1] Now, except for North Darfur and small pockets of unrest in other Darfur states, the majority of Darfur (South Darfur, Central Darfur, East Darfur and West Darfur) has experienced relative stability, allowing for the return of localized governance and markets. [1] Darfur remains largely economically isolated from SAF-controlled areas of Khartoum. [1]

What to watch next: Further operations are under way to neutralise the militants in Manipur's Ukhrul district, while the Nigerian report urges a shift to ranching to reduce clashes and boost productivity, and Darfur's relative stability enables localized governance yet keeps the area isolated from Khartoum.