Nasaka rejects reports on troops build-up
Nasaka yesterday trashed reports of troops build-up along Bangladesh border at a battalion commander-level flag meeting with Bangladesh Rifles at Maungdaw in Myanmar.
The Myanmar frontier force denied mobilising soldiers along the border but said it was supervising development activities there, said Lt Colonel Mozammel Hossain, commanding officer of 42 Rifles Battalion, who led the ten-member Bangladesh team.
The Myanmar side, led by Lt Col Me U, Maungdaw unit commander of Nasaka, however said the current deployment of forces was made as part of a routine exercise.
The meeting was initiated in the wake of heightened tension following Myanmar's military build-up along the border with Bangladesh about two weeks ago.
The Bangladesh team reached the border town of Maungdaw in the morning and discussed with the Myanmar side issues including barbed wire fencing by Nasaka, push-in of Rohingyas into Bangladesh, cross-border smuggling and exchange of prisoners.
The Nasaka team at the meeting said they are putting up fences in line with the international laws.
Later, Mozammel told reporters that the meeting was fruitful.
Nine Bangladeshi nationals, captured by Nasaka, were turned over to the BDR delegation.
A friendly volleyball match was organised between the two border forces on Tumbuk ground in West Arakan after the flag meeting.
Meanwhile, Foreign Minister Dipu Moni at her office told journalists that a vested quarter is out to damage the bilateral relations between Bangladesh and Myanmar to serve their own interests.
She also alleged that a section in the media has been running news items that might create misunderstanding between the two countries.
The foreign minister urged all to refrain from such activities for the sake of the country.
Dipu Moni once again claimed that mobilisation of Myanmar troops along Bangladesh border was part of their routine exercise.
(Our correspondents from Bandarban and Cox's Bazar contributed to this report.)
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