The Working Committee of the Tangkhul Naga Long (TNL) and the Tangkhul Naga Zingsho Longphang (TNZL) have strongly condemned the demolition of the Bailey bridge across the Namban River — which connects Kamjong to Sahamphung subdivision via Chatric Khullen and Chatric Khunou — in a powerful explosion on the intervening night of 21–22 July 2026. They identified the perpetrators as Kuki narco-terrorists and the Kuki National Army–Burma (KNA‑B).
“In the early hours of Wednesday, the 130-foot-span Bailey bridge, constructed under PMGSY in 2016, collapsed at the midpoint due to a heavy bomb blast and consequently cut off the key link between Kamjong district headquarters and Sahamphung sub-divisional headquarters,” the TNL committee said in a statement.
Spot probe
According to the spot investigation, the Kuki assailants made several attempts to sabotage the bridge and succeeded on the third attempt. TNZL said a spot inquiry confirmed the militants used an IED and that the blast caused the bridge to collapse at the midpoint.
BSNL vehicle burned
In addition, the Kuki militants burned down a Bolero jeep (MNO 3P 5651) belonging to the Telecom Department; the vehicle had been left behind after reportedly breaking down near the bridge.
Cross-border links
The TNL committee said the terror act was committed by Kuki militants currently stationed in Kuki villages — namely Kultuh, Phaikoh and Molnoi — described as a hub of Kuki terrorists inside Myanmar. For the past few months, the Kukis, with the support of KNA‑B and the People’s Defence Force (an armed group based in Myanmar), have unleashed violence in the ancestral land of the Nagas in Kamjong district along the Indo‑Myanmar border.
Community appeal
The habitual violence — including abduction, murder, vandalism, arson, and attacks using guns and bombs — carried out by the Kukis, their militants and narco‑terrorists is well known. All civilised communities must strongly condemn these Kuki terror activities. The statement described the act as shameful and inhuman and reiterated that migrant Kukis live as tenants at the mercy of their landowners, the Nagas.
Calls for action
The TNL Working Committee called on the concerned authorities to take immediate action to counter the targeted sabotage and restore key connectivity for border villagers. The perpetrators must be arrested, charged, and tried in a court of law, and given befitting punishment for damaging public property and causing immense hardship to people’s livelihoods.
In a separate statement, TNZL alleged the demolition of the Bailey bridge across the Namban River, connecting Kamjong headquarters and Chatric villages under Sahamphung subdivision, was carried out by Indian‑based Kuki militants under the SoO pact in collusion with the Kuki National Army–Burma (KNA‑B) on the intervening night of July 21–22.
Epicentre of violence
TNZL chairman SP Lowry said a spot inquiry carried out by a TNZL team confirmed the militants carried out the blast using an IED after several attempts, and the bridge collapsed in the middle due to the force of the explosion. “It was carried out by armed Kuki militants currently based in certain Kuki villages, including Kultuh, Aishi, Phaikoh and Molnoi inside Myanmar’s territory,” the statement alleged, describing the locations as the epicentre of violence along the Indo‑Myanmar border.
The assailants also allegedly set fire to a Bolero jeep (MNO 3P 5651) belonging to the Telecom Department, which had been left near the bridge after reportedly breaking down en route, the statement said.
Religious mockery
The statement also termed the act of sabotage a mockery and an insult to the community that professes Christianity and claims descent from the Israelites.
TNZL urged state authorities to take immediate and necessary action against the perpetrators and ensure befitting punishment for damaging public property and causing hardship to people in the remote region. “The concerned authorities must also restore the bridge and ensure connectivity at the earliest,” it added.