The Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) on Friday, September 26, 2025, announced the extension of the Armed Forces (Special Powers) Act (AFSPA) in parts of Manipur, Nagaland, and Arunachal Pradesh for another six months, citing ongoing security challenges.
In Manipur, which has been grappling with ethnic violence since May 2023, the AFSPA will remain in force across the entire state, excluding 13 police station jurisdictions across five valley districts. These areas, Imphal, Lamphel, City, Singjamei, Patsoi, Wangoi, Porompat, Heingang, Irilbung, Thoubal, Bishnupur, Nambol, and Kakching, are not covered under the current extension.
The MHA notification stated:
“Whereas the Central Government, after reviewing the law-and-order situation in the State of Manipur, in exercise of the powers conferred by Section 3 of the Armed Forces (Special Powers) Act, 1958, declares the entire State of Manipur, excluding the areas falling under the jurisdiction of the 13 police stations, as ‘disturbed area’ for a period of six months with effect from October 1, 2025, unless withdrawn earlier.”
The AFSPA was previously reimposed on November 14, 2024, in six police stations across five districts of the valley after the violent ethnic clashes that erupted on May 3, 2023. President’s Rule has been in effect in Manipur since February 13, 2023. The Act had been temporarily withdrawn from all valley police stations between April 2022 and April 2023 due to improved security conditions. Notably, the Imphal Municipality area had been exempted from AFSPA since 2004, while hill districts in Manipur have seen periodic extensions of the law for the past three decades.
In Nagaland, the AFSPA has been renewed for six months in nine districts, Dimapur, Niuland, Chumoukedima, Mon, Kiphire, Noklak, Phek, Peren, and Meluri—along with 21 police station limits across five other districts, including Kohima, Mokokchung, Longleng, Wokha, and Zunheboto, the notification added.
Meanwhile, in Arunachal Pradesh, the law has been extended in Tirap, Changlang, and Longding districts, as well as in areas under the Namsai, Mahadevpur, and Chowkham police stations in Namsai district, which border Assam.
The Armed Forces (Special Powers) Act, 1958, empowers the Army and Central Armed Police Forces (CAPF) deployed in ‘disturbed areas’ to search premises, arrest individuals, and use lethal force against those violating the law, all with protection from prosecution or legal action without sanction from the Central Government. In Manipur, AFSPA has been in effect since 1981, more than a decade after the region transitioned from a Union Territory to a full-fledged state in 1972.