Imphal airport suspend operations after unidentified drones spotted in airspace

IMPHAL: Imphal's Bir Tikendrajit International Airport has been ordered to suspend operations after unidentified drones were spotted in its airspace. According to India Today, an unidentified drone was spotted flying through the airspace around 2.30 pm on Sunday.

Following the incident, some flights from Imphal were cancelled. Flights departing for Imphal from other places have been diverted to other airports, officials said. The incident came shortly after the Manipur government extended the ban on internet services for another five days till November 23.

Since last May, Manipur has witnessed riots that has rocked the country. On May 3, a clash broke out in Manipur between the Kuki tribe living in the hills and the Meiti tribe living in the valley.

The Manipur High Court asked the state government to grant Scheduled Tribe status to the Meitis, which ignited the riots in the state. The Kukis and Nagas feared that this would affect their Scheduled Tribe reservation. About 60 percent of the state's population is Meiti, who live in the plains. Most of these follow Hinduism. However, majority of Kukis were converted to Christianity under the influence of American Baptist missionaries during British rule.

The Meitis have accused the Kukis, who make huge amounts of money through the cultivation of poppy, of promoting drug trafficking and of getting help from China under the guise of terrorist organizations in Myanmar.