Govt extends AFSPA in Manipur, Nagaland, Andhra for 6 months
The Union Government has extended the Armed Forces (Special Powers) Act, 1958, in specified Areas of Manipur, Nagaland and Arunachal Pradesh for another six months from October 1, 2026. Gazette notifications issued on Friday said the law will remain in force unless withdrawn earlier.
The notifications stated that the decisions followed a further review of the law-and-order situation in the three States. The orders cite Section 3 of the Act, which empowers the Union Government to declare any area “disturbed” if it concludes that armed forces must assist the civil administration. Once that declaration is made, security personnel may search premises, arrest without warrant, and use force, including lethal force, if they consider it necessary to maintain public order. Actions taken in good faith are protected from prosecution unless the Union Government grants prior sanction.
In Arunachal Pradesh, the extension covers Tirap, Changlang and Longding districts in full. It also applies to areas under the Namsai, Mahadevpur and Chowkham police stations in Namsai district, which borders Assam. These locations have seen repeated six-month renewals because of residual insurgent activity, porous routes into Myanmar and narcotics trafficking along the eastern frontier. The rest of Arunachal Pradesh remains outside the disturbed-area regime. In Nagaland, the Act continues in nine districts, Dimapur, Niuland, Chumoukedima, Mon, Kiphire, Noklak, Phek, Peren and Meluri, together with the jurisdictions of 21 police stations in Kohima, Mokokchung, Longleng, Wokha and Zunheboto.
In Manipur, the disturbed-area tag has been retained across almost the entire State, excluding only 13 police-station areas in five valley districts. Ethnic violence that began in 2023 has not fully subsided, and the Union Government has judged that a wider rollback would be premature. AFSPA has already been withdrawn completely from Mizoram, Meghalaya and Tripura. Its limited continuation in the remaining States reflects an official view that extraordinary powers are still required in selected belts even as overall insurgency has declined. The latest notifications keep the legal framework in place until March 31, 2027, subject to any earlier review if conditions improve.
