Panic gripped the residents of Shah Porir Dwip and Saint Martin in Teknaf amid sound of gunfights and shelling from heavy weapons as fighting between Myanmar junta forces and ethnic rebel group Arakan Army continued in Rakhine on Friday.
Residents said that they saw Myanmar helicopters and fighter jets hovering over Rakhine amid the fighting, which left them concerned about their safety.
The firing in Myanmar along the border of the two areas started on Thursday after Bangladesh deported 330 Myanmar soldiers and civilians who fled to the country between February 4 and 8, fleeing the conflict in Rakhine.
Bangladesh authorities ferried the Myanmar escapees to the naval ship of the country anchored in the deep sea with a private ship and Bangladesh Coast Guard tugboat after verification of their identities by the two countries.
Sabrang union parishad member Abdus Salam said after the shelling in Myanmar, many locals appeared worried.
However, Teknaf upazila nirbahi officer Mohammad Adnan Chowdhury said that no artillery shells were dropped on Bangladesh territory on Friday.
Md Jakaria Alfaj, a resident at Shah Porir Dwip, said that he woke up in the morning hearing the sound of firing inside Myanmar.
He said that he saw helicopters and planes in the morning and the afternoon.
He added that such a sound of shelling or firing is not very familiar in the locality, so it left residents panicking.
Meanwhile, residents of Whykong said they also heard a barrage of firing along the border at about 9:15pm.
Home minister Asaduzzaman Khan said at a programme in Chattogram on Friday that no one from Myanmar carrying firearms would be allowed anymore, confirming that some Myanmar rebels had also entered Bangladesh.
The heavily armed BGB and Coast Guard have patrolled the bordering Naf River and adjacent areas since Monday.
At the same time, the local administration has suspended the movement of civilian ships between Teknaf and Saint Martin since February 10.
New Age
