Myanmar soldiers fire shots near Rohingya camp at Bangladesh border after Dhaka protests

Hours after Dhaka protested against additional troops deployment by Myanmar at the border, the Burmese soldiers have fired shots in the air, Border Guard Bangladesh or BGB says.

The members of Myanmar’s Border Guard Police or BGP fired two shots in the air on their side of the Tambru border at Naikkhyangchharhi in Bandarban around 8pm on Thursday, BGB 34 Battalion Commander Lt Col Manjurul Hasan told bdnews24.com. 

“We also heard a hullabaloo in the Rohingya camp on the zero line at the time. No one was injured,” he said.

He added they have informed their superiors about the incident.

The BGB is on high alert after the Myanmar mobilised additional troops on the border and asked the around 7,000 Rohingyas to leave the no man’s land on Tambru border on Thursday morning.

The foreign ministry summoned the Myanmar ambassador in Dhaka in the afternoon and asked him to roll back the heavy military presence along the border.

The ministry told the ambassador to request the Myanmar authorities for an immediate withdrawal of Myanmar security forces along with military assets from the area.

It said such military buildup will create confusion in Bangladesh and escalate tensions on the border.

Ghumdhum union council chairman Md Zahangir Aziz Chowdhury told bdnews24.com the shooting by the Myanmar soldiers has triggered fresh concerns in the area.

Mohammad Arif, a representative of the Rohingyas staying in the no man’s land on Tambru border, told bdnews24.com the BGP personnel aimed their weapons at the Rohingyas in the morning and asked them to leave the area.

He alleged the Myanmar soldiers also tried to enter the Rohingya camp by crossing the barbed-wire fence.

The Myanmar troopers took away their heavy weaponry when BGB strengthened presence in the afternoon, he added.