Myanmar wants to take back its soldiers from Bangladesh: FM

This photo taken on February 4, 2024 shows a dresses and ammunitions of a group of troops who fled Myanmar conflicts seeking refuge at a camp of Border Guard Bangladesh in Tumbru area of Naikhyangchari in Bangladesh. – Collected photo.

Foreign minister Hasan Mahmud said on Monday that the Myanmar government wanted to take back its soldiers taking refuge in the bordering Bangladesh hill district of Bandarban.

‘We have registered the names of 95 soldiers who have fled ongoing conflict in Myanmar into Bangladesh so far. Several of them were injured. There is a possibility that more may come seeking shelter,’ he told reporters at the foreign ministry.

Responding to a question, he said that they were in discussion with the Myanmar authorities as to how they could take back their soldiers—either by boat or by air.

According to reports published on different newspapers, the troops crossed the border with arms and ammunition amid a barrage of firing in Rakhine State.

BGB officials said that they were witnessing heavy firing along the bordering Tumbru area in Naikhyangchari.

On Sunday, at least 58 members of the Myanmar army and the Border Guard Police, both in uniforms or plain clothes, crossed the border between 8:00am and 7:00pm with arms and ammunition without hoisting any white flag or raising their hands, witnesses and BGB officials said.

A total of 37 more troops came to Bangladesh between Sunday evening and Monday morning, according to BGB headquarters’ media wing.

New Age