Three Baptist pastors killed in Manipur ambush after peace conference.
Vehicles carrying Baptist church leaders stand along a roadside in Manipur, India, after an ambush on May 13, 2026, killed three pastors returning from a peace conference focused on reconciliation between tribal Christian communities in the conflict-hit northeastern state. Social mediaThree Baptist pastors were shot dead in an ambush in India’s northeastern state of Manipur on Wednesday, May 13, while traveling home from an interchurch peace conference focused on easing tensions between tribal Christian communities in the conflict-hit state. At least five others were wounded.
By nightfall, condemnations had arrived from India’s major Christian bodies, regional governments, and community organizations across the Northeast, while the question of who carried out the attack remained bitterly contested.
The victims were senior leaders of the Thadou Baptist Association India (TBAI), a Baptist denomination rooted in the Thadou-Kuki community of Manipur. They had attended the United Baptist Convention Assembly in Churachandpur, a town in Manipur’s southern hill district also known as Lamka, and were traveling back to Kangpokpi, roughly 60 miles north, when gunmen ambushed their convoy between the villages of Kotzim and Kotlen along the Imphal-Tamenglong highway at around 10:25 a.m.
The killings struck at ongoing efforts by Christian leaders to reduce tensions between the Kuki-Zo and Naga communities, both largely Christian tribal populations whose relations have deteriorated in recent months amid Manipur’s wider ethnic conflict. One of those killed, Rev. Dr. Vumthang Sitlhou, had emerged as a prominent advocate for reconciliation between the communities. CP.
