SUMMARY
Among all the ethnic groups and tribes living in the northeast India, the Nagas were the first to raise the banner of revolt against the Indian government. The creation of an independent Nagaland has been the main focus of the group NSCM(National Socialist Council of Nagaland) and its various splinter groups (See India: Nagaland. In its struggle for independence, Naga have often found themselves in conflict with Kuki, another ethnic group fighting for the creation of their own independent state in the area, Kukiland (For more information on the non-state conflict between Kuki- Naga) . As part of the conflict between Kuki and Naga, the Naga rebel group NSCN-IM (National Socialist Council of Nagaland - Isaac Muivah faction), has committed one-sided violence targeting Kuki civilians in order to hamper the strength of the Kuki tribe.
Multiple factors can be identified as triggers for the Kuki- Naga violence. Perhaps the most important of these was control over trade routes. The disputed area, on the border between India and Myanmar (Burma), is an important point on the main corridor for smuggled goods from China and South East Asia into North-Eastern India. As such, control of the black market could be seen as an important profit source for both groups. Further, the area being a part of the Golden Triangle of illicit growth and trafficking of opium may have further contributed to the struggle for the region.
The outbreak of one-sided violence committed by NSCN-IM occurred in April 1989, when the rebel group attacked three villages between Assam and Nagaland in northeast India, causing the death of numerous people. Between 1993 and 1996, the numbers of dead slightly declined. All attacks employed light weaponry or artisanal devices, such as torches. Further, NSCN-IM engaged in an array of tactics; bombing, arson, kidnapping of villagers, and indiscriminating killings of women and children.
NSCN-IM first became active as a one-sided actor in UCDP data in 1989, when the one-sided violence resulted in over 25 civilian deaths. The threshold was reached in April that year when the group raided three villages on the border between Assam and Nagaland states, killing 30 civilians.
