The alleged reluctance of Bangladesh authorities to prevent the assembling of several Myanmar Muslim separatist groups along the zero point of the Bangladesh-Myanmar-India borders, triggered the recent gunfights, say sources.
These Rohingya-led rebel groups and the Border Guard Police (BGP) of Myanmar exchanged several thousand rounds of bullets between May 6 and 18 in an area opposite to bordering Ashartali in the district’s Naikhyongchhari upazila, raising concerns among the local people.
Several BGP personnel were also reportedly killed in the gunfights.
The Border Guard Bangladesh got engaged in the matter after the BGP had opened fire on a BGB patrol team in Rejupara area of Dhunghum union of the upazila on May 21.
High officials of the two frontiers sat in a flag meeting the following day. At the meet, the BGP threatened to break off relations with Bangladesh if the latter did not take any steps against the terrorists who had been conducting violent attacks in Myanmar using the remote areas of Naikhyongchhari.
The meeting held in Bahirmath area of Lembuchhari border was attended by BGB’s Cox’s Bazar unit Sector Commander Col Khandaker Farid Hossain and BGP’s Col Ting Coco, the Mongdu sector commander.
On May 28, BGB official Mizanur Rahman was killed when the border forces of Myanmar fired at another patrol team in Panchhari. The two frontiers engaged in a gunfight for around two hours on May 30 over the recovery of Mizanur’s body.
Sources say several separatist groups including Rohingya Solidarity Organisation (SRO), Arakan Movement, Arakan People’s Freedom Party, Arakan Rohingya National Organisation and Bangladesh’s banned Islamist outfit Harkat-ul-Jihad-al Islami (Huji) have been working together for the last three months.
Members of the groups have taken up positions in the forest areas of Myanmar’s border and reportedly the main camp is set up at the nearby zero point – situated in a remote forest on the east of Thanchi, the triangle of three borders.
Sources say the groups have established 10 temporary camps and are carrying out attacks on the BGP men from those establishments.
Following allegations that the separatists, being stationed in Bandarban, were committing crimes in both the countries, the BGB decided in April that they would set up five camps in the bordering Panchhari, Dochhari, Bhalukhaiya, Jarulchhari and Nikuchhari areas.
Of the five, construction of two camps has already been completed while three others will be ready by June, BGB sources said.
Naikhyongchhari BGB 31 Battalion Zone Commander Shafiqur Rahman, however, refutes the allegation of rebels’ positioning themselves along the border. All the bordering camps have been on alert, he told the Dhaka Tribune yesterday.
At a briefing yesterday, BGB chief Maj Gen Aziz Ahmed said there was no scope for terrorists to use Bangladesh’s land to launch an attack on a neighbouring country. “We have asked the Myanmar government to give us information on the RSO camps. [Then] we will sweep them away,” he added.