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| Section of Bangladesh-Burma Border Fence where Bengali- Talibans tried to cross into Burma and clashed with police. |
Rohingya-Lonhtain gun battle spreads
panic at Naikhongchori. Police claims it took place on Myanmar soil near
Bangladesh-Myanmar frontier.
Thousands of rounds of bullets were
exchanged in a two-day-long gun battle between members of Taliban-trained Rohingya
Solidarity Organisation (RSO) terrorists and Myanmar’s Lon-Htain Force (security
police) at Naikhongchori of the Bangladesh-Myanmar frontier.
The shooting started on Wednesday night
(August 16) at around 9:00pm in the area between pillar no. 54 and 55 at
Panchori Goritola area under Dochori union and went on at regular intervals
until Thursday afternoon, said locals.
The sound of gunfire spread panic in
Bangladeshi territory and many people took safe shelters to avoid bullets
during the shootout. “We are very frightened upon hearing
the sound of gunshots inside Bangladeshi territory. And we needed immediate
protection,” a local of the Panchori area said.
Officer-in-charge of Naikhongchori
Police Station Rafiqul Islam said: “We heard from locals that a gunfight
erupted on Wednesday night. It’s true that it happened, but it happened on
Myanmar soil. Talking to the Dhaka Tribune UP
Chairman of Hochori Rashid Ahammad, however, said locals had told him about a
fierce gunfight between a militant group and Lon-Htain force on the
Bangladesh-Myanmar border.
Meanwhile, a few militant outfits
including the RSO are trying to reorganise in the bordering area ever since the
withdrawal of Myanmar’s Nasaka, the Myanmar’s border security force, from
Bandarban-Myanmar border on July 12, some locals said.
The armed confrontation between the Taliban-RSO
and the Lon-Htain is nothing but a part of the outfits’ efforts to gain a
foothold, they said. Back in 1991, the Myanmar government replaced the Lon-Htain
with Nasaka to supervise the border between Myanmar and Bangladesh.
The specialised Nasaka was made up of
members from military, police and customs, but the Myanmar government recently
disbanded the force for its abusive practices and serious violations of human
rights committed against the Rohingya community.
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| Burmese security forces on Bangladesh border. |
Following the abolishment of the Nasaka
the Myanmar government once again decided to entrust Lon-Htain with the task of
securing its border. However, slow deployment of Lon-Htain in place of Nasaka
along the border has given Rohingya militants an opportunity to reorganise
themselves, many locals said.
On July 31, BGB arrested two RSO
commanders Shariful Islam and Ziaul Haque from remote Gorainnakata area of
Dochori union as they were distributing relief among Rohingyas.
The Taliban-trained RSO has recently increased its
activities by targeting the poor Rohingyas in the remote hilly areas on the
frontier and tactfully providing them with food, shelter and training. The
outfit is said to have taken advantage of the relatively slack security
measures on the border ahead of the national election in Bangladesh and in the
absence of Nasaka.
Many residents of Panchori and Dochori area, preferring anonymity, said
they had seen some RSO members with heavy weapons flocking near pillar no. 54
and 55 (Border Posts at Mile-54 and Mile-55) on Wednesday noon. Around evening,
they went to the barbed wire fence of the border and tried to enter into
Myanmar and that is when the fighting ensued.
A local public representative, speaking
on condition of anonymity, said there is an Taliban-trained RSO camp at Waksa
Khali Jhiri area under Dochori union where at least 150 RSO members reside. All
of them are equipped with firearms while some members of radical organisations
have already taken training from the camp.
Naikhongchori BGB Battalion Commander
Lt Col Mehedi Hasan said they would start operations against the militants once
they had specific information about their camps on the frontier.
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| Location of Taliban-RSO terrorist-training camps in Bangladesh's Bandarban District next to Burma border. |
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| Bangladesh's Bandarban District next to Burma border line. |
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| Bandarban District near Chittagong in Bangladesh. |
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