Deeply anguished: VP Naidu condemns attack on Assam Rifles convoy in Manipur

The personnel of the Road Opening Patrol ROP of the 6 Dogra Regiment of the Army were felled.

Vice President M Venkaiah Naidu on Saturday expressed deep anguish over the maryrdom of five soldiers of the Assam Rifles, including a Commanding officer, in a terrorist attack in Manipur.

Colonel Viplav Tripathi, the Commanding Officer of Khuga Battalion of Assam Rifles, his wife and son, besides four personnel of the country's oldest paramilitary were killed on Saturday in a welter of IED blasts and burst of gunfire in Manipur's Churachandpur district, Defence Minister Rajnath Singh said.

''Deeply anguished by the martyrdom of five brave soldiers of Assam Rifles, including a Commanding Officer and two of his family members in Manipur today. My condolences to the bereaved family members. Strongly condemn this heinous act of terrorism,'' Vice President Naidu said on Twitter.

Col Tripathi's convoy was targeted at Sehkan village in Churachandpur district by suspected militants of the People's Revolutionary Party of Kangleipak (PREPAK), an insurgent group in Manipur, demanding a separate homeland.

The incident is the first major attack on security forces since June 4, 2018 when an Army convoy was similarly targeted in Chandel district resulting in the death of 18 personnel and injury to others. The personnel of the Road Opening Patrol (ROP) of the 6 Dogra Regiment of the Army were felled.