A BGB naik named Zakir Hossain was injured in an early morning gunfire exchange between the Bangladesh border security force and Myanmar separatist group the Arakan Army in a remote area of Bandarban yesterday.
Border Guard Bangladesh (BGB) believes that the Myanmar separatists opened fire when its troops and the personnel from Bangladesh Army were on a joint patrol at the Barha Madok border area in Remakri union of Thanchi upazila in the hilly south-eastern district.
BGB Director General Mej Gen Aziz Ahmed told the Dhaka Tribune: “On August 25 [Tuesday], acting on a tip off, troopers from the Madok Border Observation Point seized 10 Arabian horses from the possession of Arakan Army [AA] men. Six of those were seized in Barha Madok and four in Thanchi area.
“We believe that it was AA separatists who fired gunshots on 10 of our soldiers this morning when they were on a joint patrol with the army members on a vessel,” the DG said.
He also said that the gunshot exchange went on for about five hours and Naik Zakir was injured during that time.
Maj Gen Aziz also said that BGB and army members have already launched a combined operation against the Myanmar separatists, who have been illegally treading the remote bordering forests of Bandarban. Additional BGB and army troops have already been flown into the area for the operation.
“More manpower will be sent to the border in Thanchi upazilla of Bandarban tomorrow [Thursday] to strengthen the operation against the separatist group. We have contacted the Myanmar Army through their embassy in Dhaka and requested them to seal their territory so that the separatists do not get chance to escape,” the BGB boss told the Dhaka Tribune over phone yesterday.
Injured Zakir was taken to the Combined Military Hospital in Chittagong and a BGB press release said he was now out of danger.
Home Minister Asaduzzaman Khan Kamal told media yesterday that the operation to fully wipe out the Myanmar separatists will continue.
Our Bandarban correspondent reports that a sense of fear has gripped the residents of the Remakri area following the gunshot exchange. Shops and other business outlets in the area have remained closed since morning and the local indigenous people have mostly stayed indoors.
“Nobody has dared to go outside,” Remakri union council Chairman Maliram Tripura told the Dhaka Tribune yesterday.
Seeking anonymity, a man from the local indigenous community said the place where the battle took place was about 60-70km from the Barha Madok border outpost, and it is very remote.
Chairman Maliram also said: “There are only six BOPs in this huge area. More than 8,000 acres of land is totally unprotected and this is where some separatist groups from Myanmar have made their dens. Some indigenous people also live in that area.”
He alleged that the Myanmar separatists often try to loot the houses of these indigenous people and also supply drugs into Bangladesh from their remote dens.
This gunshot exchange comes only two days after the BGB director general visited the border areas in Bandarban and announced that more BOPs would be set up to cover more than 400km of unprotected border with Myanmar.
Source: Dhaka Tribune
