In 1907, the Jiribam plain was opened for settlement by the Government of Manipur, and it came to be settled by Meiteis and Bengali speakers from the neighbouring Cachar district.

During the first week of violence, Meitei mobs led by the Arambai Tenggol militia attacked Kuki-Zo localities in the Jiribam Town.

[7][20] A second death occurred on 6 June, that of a Meitei individual named Soibam Saratkumar Singh from Hilghat area[d] who went missing while returning from his farm.

[18][23] In the ensuing mayhem, over a thousand Kuki-Zo people, mainly Hmars and Thadou Kukis, from Jiribam fled to Assam's Cachar district.

[18][24] On 10 June, the Chief Minister's Office revealed that it had flagged intelligence to the effect that "200 armed Kuki-Zo militants" from Churachandpur were moving to the Phaitol and Kaiphundai areas, and demanded an 'action taken report' from the Director General of Police (DGP).

[27] Journalist Greeshma Kuthar however revealed that it was the Meitei militants belonging to the Pambei faction of United National Liberation Front (UNLF) that had moved to Jiribam well before November 2023, when they signed a peace agreement with the government.

[18] Following the eruption of the violence, Arambai Tenggol and UNLF-Pambei cadres patrolled the Meitei localities in and around the Jiribam town and the Kuki-Zo residents had to flee their homes.

[28] It was lifted for two days and reimposed again on 20 June, citing the reason that Meitei mobs were blockading medical and essential supplies to the Kuki-Zo villages.

[29][30] On that day, there were also allegations that the Kuki armed men set ablaze an empty narcotics checkpost and that the Manipur police commands and Meitei militants fired upon the Phaitol village indiscriminately.

[31] In early July, hours before a scheduled visit of Rahul Gandhi to the area, the police reported gunfire from the Phaitol village towards Gularthol.

[34] Shortly after these events, unidentified miscreants torched the house of Seijathang Khongsai, the general secretary of KIJTN, in Phaitol.