Amid Anger Over Nagaland Op Deaths, Distressing Scenes As 12 Are Buried

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Amid Anger Over Nagaland Op Deaths, Distressing Scenes As 12 Are Buried

Nagaland Killings: 12 killed in the Army op and in retaliatory violence were buried last night

Kohima:

Two days after 14 civilians were killed in a horrifically botched op by the Army’s elite 21 Para Special Forces, gut-wrenching visuals have emerged of grief-stricken families burying their loved ones in a mass grave.

12 of the 14 – killed in the Army op that went wrong and in retaliatory violence – were buried last night in an emotional ceremony. All 12 were from Oting village in Nagaland’s Mon district.

The 12 were buried in a mass grave.

Distressing visuals showed one woman weeping uncontrollably over a coffin.

One of the other videos zooms out to show multiple coffins, each surrounded by men and woman crying and holding garlands while family members hold and comfort them.

Yet another shows a young woman, in black, crying desperately as she clings to two coffins.

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The mass burial of 12 bodies took place late last night

Another of the visuals shows an armed security personnel standing by one of the coffins.

One particularly horrible visual shows a line of coffins covered in a white cloth with a red cross.

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Emotional visual of 12 coffins being buried

On Saturday eight villagers from Nagaland’s Mon district were killed in an ambush set up by the Army’s 21 Para SF. The Army later said the ambush was set after a tip about insurgents’ movement.

Five more people were killed after other villagers heard the gunshots and – according to a preliminary report by Nagaland Police – found the soldiers trying to cover-up the incident.

However, Army sources told NDTV yesterday the soldiers were trying to take the bodies to the local police station; there was never any intention to hide what had happened, they said.

The sources also said the angry villagers, some armed with machetes, had attacked the soldiers and forced them to fire in self-defence. One soldier died in the violence.

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Nagaland Killings: The incident took place near Oting village in Mon district of Nagaland

With tensions running high, the following day there was more violence – this time in Mon town – where Assam Rifles’ camp was attacked. Troops had to fire in self-defence again, the Army said.

One more civilian was killed.

Nagaland Police’s FIR has named the Army’s elite special unit and alleged “murder” and that the “intention” of the security forces was to “murder and injure civilians”.

The Army expressed deep regret for the “unfortunate loss of lives” and has confirmed that the matter is being investigated internally. Yesterday Army sources also defended the initial firing by saying the unit thought they saw a hunting rifle in the truck. But no arms or ammunition were recovered from the truck.

The ‘classified’ op was planned and executed without the knowledge of the police or Assam Rifles, the para-military force which has a key role in handling insurgency in the area.

Union Home Minister Amit Shah made a perfunctory statement in Parliament yesterday, but did not clarify if the soldiers involved are to be protected from prosecution under the controversial AFSPA.

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