1 killed in shootout with police at Ukhiya refugee camp, 2 Rohingya men arrested

The criminals opened fire on the APBn team during a raid, who retaliated in self-defence and killed one person on the spot, police say

A man has died in a shootout with the Armed Police Battalion, or APBn, at Ukhiya refugee camp in Cox’s Bazar a day after Cyclone Mocha flattened more than 2,500 shanties in the shelters for the Rohingya.

Two suspected members of the Arakan Rohingya Salvation Army or ARSA, an armed group based in Myanmar's Rakhine, were arrested at the scene on Monday, police said.

On Sunday, the powerful cyclone battered the coastal areas of Cox’s Bazar, crushing thousands of homes under trees it uprooted and blowing away Rohingya shanties with a wind speed of up to 147 kph when it made landfall.

Storm surges whipped up by the powerful cyclone moving inland from the Bay of Bengal inundated the Myanmar port city of Sittwe in Rakhine. Hundreds of thousands of the Muslim Rohingya minority remain in Myanmar's Rakhine state, where many are confined to camps separated from the rest of the population.

Violence in the camps for the displaced Myanmar people in Bangladesh are not rare. Deadly shootouts between Rohingya groups or with law enforcers are often reported.

Even amid fears of landslides due to heavy rains under the influence of the storm, the gunfight occurred on Monday afternoon at Camp No. 17 following a tip-off that a group of armed individuals had gathered in the camp, said Captain Md Harun-ur-Rashid Chowdhury of the APBn.

The identity of the dead person was not immediately known.

During the raid, the criminals opened fire on the APBn team, who retaliated in self-defence and killed one person on the spot, Harun said.

Two locally made guns were seized from the arrested suspects.

Harun said police brought the situation under control and were preparing legal action.