Myanmar border police fires blank shot at Bandarban border

Myanmar Border Guard Police (BGP) fired blank shots near  Ghumdhum border in Naikhyangchhari  upazila of Bandarban this evening.

The incident took place around 7:45pm as the Rohingyas protested the BGP troops who threatened Rohingya refugees to leave the area of no man's land along the Naikhyangchhari border, reports our Cox's Bazar correspondent.

The Myanmar border police fired one round bullet in the air and fled away the scene, said Major Iqbal Ahmed, a senior Bangladesh border guard official.

Nearly 700,000 Rohingya fled Myanmar for Bangladesh after insurgent attacks on Aug. 25 sparked a military crackdown that the United Nation as has said amounted to ethnic cleansing, with reports of arson attacks, murder and rape.

Roughly half of the people who had been staying in no man's land had entered Bangladesh and made their way to refugee camps in Bangladesh in just over a week. Now there are roughly 2,500-3,000 people in the no man's land.

Earlier in the day, Myanmar deployed additional forces with arms on their bordering area which is opposite to Bangladesh's Tombru border, said a top official of Border Guard Bangladesh (BGB).

Later, BGB Additional Director General (operation and training) Brig Gen Mojibur Rahman said Myanmar has violated border norms by deploying additional forces with arms on their bordering area which is opposite to Bangladesh's Tombru border.

"A number of Rohingya people took shelter on zero line near Konabari area of the upazila. Centring the issue, Myanmar deployed additional forces of army and BGP equipped with arms, which is out of the border norms," said Brig Gen Mojibur Rahman while addressing a press conference at BGB Pilkhana headquarters in Dhaka this afternoon.

The BGB also increased its manpower following the deployment of the force on the bordering area in Myanmar, he said. 

"The situation has not taken into an alarming turn yet so that we have to deploy more additional forces from other agencies," he told a questioner claiming that the overall situation is under their control.