Home minister: Myanmar warned against firing near Bangladesh border

Myanmar has been warned against firing near the Bangladesh border, so no more shells land inside the country, Home Minister Asaduzzaman Khan has said.

“Some shells crossed the Myanmar border and came close to ours. We have protested the matter, and so have the Border Guard Bangladesh (BGB) and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs,” he told reporters after an event in the capital’s Shahbagh on Saturday.

“We expect that Myanmar will refrain itself in order to avoid such incidents again,” he added.

On Thursday, firing and artillery and mortar shelling continued on the Myanmar side of the Ghundhum border in Bandarban’s Naikhongchhari for the third consecutive day.

Panic spread anew in the area when heavy firing resumed along the border around 8am, local people said.

Earlier, the Foreign Ministry summoned the Myanmar envoy to Dhaka thrice over the issue. 

Dhaka lodged strong protests and expressed deep concern at air and artillery strikes landing inside Bangladeshi territory and violations of the country’s air space.

The Myanmar side claimed that its military launched airstrikes after the ethnic Rakhine armed organization the Arakan Army (AA) seized a police outpost on the border in Maungdaw Township in northern Rakhine State. 

Undated photo, obtained from the internet, shows Home Minister Asaduzzaman Khan addressing the media at the Secretariat

In the process, at least two rockets fired by regime aircraft landed inside Bangladesh.

On August 28, the Myanmar border security force, Border Guard Police (BGP), hurled mortar shells at Tumbru no-man’s land area. 

Two unexploded mortar shells were later recovered from the spot.

The Myanmar ambassador to Bangladesh, U Aung Kyaw Moe, was summoned for the third time to the Foreign Ministry on September 4.

On September 3, Foreign Minister AK Abdul Momen said the government was following the situation in Myanmar.

“Violence is going on inside Myanmar. We have sealed the border. No matter how much Myanmar continues its provocation, we will not allow anyone to enter Bangladesh through the border,” he said.

The BGB had been put on alert so that no one from Myanmar could enter Bangladesh territory, the foreign minister added.

On September 1, State Minister for Foreign Affairs Md Shahriar Alam said that Bangladesh was better prepared to stop infiltration. “We do not want to step into Myanmar’s provocation or trap,” he said, adding that the Myanmar side might have a strategic benefit if they can move in such a unilateral direction.