Mourners put wreaths on coffins of Indians killed by security forces

GUWAHATI, (India): Indians outraged by the security forces’ mistaken killing of 14 civilians in Nagaland state held funeral rites for the dead on Monday amid intense security and sporadic internet outages aimed at damping unrest in the remote northeastern region.

Security and government officials have said 13 members of the region’s predominant Konyak tribe and one security trooper were killed on Saturday after the forces in the border state mistook a group of labourers for militants and opened fire.

Another member of the tribe was killed during protests on Sunday over the killings, which has prompted the government to launch an inquiry, while police and officials ramped up patrols ahead of the last rites.

Hundreds of mourners laid wreaths on the coffins of the dead, lined up on a playground, as the state’s chief minister, Neiphiu Rio, led a mass funeral service in the district of Mon, the site of the incident.

“The killing of innocent civilians is terrorism, we are Indians, not terrorists,” read a placard nearby.

Home Minister Amit Shah, speaking in parliament, appealed for peace in Nagaland. He said the government “expresses remorse” as civilians lives were lost when security forces were trying to ambush insurgents. Shah said an investigation had been ordered to identify loopholes in the security strategy at a time when hundreds of members of the security forces are patrolling Mon district.

“Such misfortunate incidents are being investigated by the army at the highest level,” he said. The army expressed “deep regret” over the intelligence lapse but residents have demanded a shutdown of its operations, with army camps moved out of civilian areas.