Conflict in Myanmar: Panic across Bangladesh border, many leave homes for shelter amid heavy firing
2 killed inside Bangladesh border from Myanmar mortar shelling
The already tense atmosphere near Myanmar border areas boiled over yesterday after two people were killed as heavy mortar shells reportedly fired from Myanmar landed and exploded inside Bangladesh on the Ghumdum border in Bandarban.
The explosion occurred around 2:20pm when a shell hit an under-construction house located in Jolpaitali village of Bandarban's Naikhongchhari upazila.
The two deceased in Naikhongchhari were identified as the house owner, Hosneara Begum, 60, wife of local market trader Badshah Mia and a Rohingya labourer who was working on-site.
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The Rohingya man died on the spot, and Hosneara Begum breathed her last while she was being taken to the hospital, Ghumdum Union Parishad Chairman AKM Jahangir Aziz said.
"My sister was in the kitchen serving food to the elderly Rohingya worker when we heard a loud noise. As we rushed there, we saw the elderly man with a severed hand, and he died on the spot. My sister passed away while we were taking her to the hospital. The shell hit her on the hip," shared Shah Alam, the cousin of Hosneara Begum.
People living close to the border were already in panic mode as bullets and rockets from the ongoing conflict between the junta and rebels had been hitting people, vehicles and buildings across the border.
Now with the two fatalities, panic has turned to fear even in areas further into Bangladesh's border and many have even left their home for safe shelter.
Local resident Md Azad had left the area with family half an hour after the two deaths.
He told The Business Standard, "I have heard gunshots for the past two days. Today the situation is very bad. Two have died. For this we are fleeing the area."
The conflict between rebel factions in Arakan state and Myanmar's military junta started on Saturday centering the control of Dhekibaniya border outpost. The ongoing conflict has been marked by persistent gunfire, mortar shells, and rocket explosions.
The camp border post is very close to the locality of Naikhongchhari Upazila in Bandarban — about 800 metres away from the Dhekibania border post.
According to local residents, bullets and mortar shells hit the residences of Bangladeshis during the shelling in the camp. The conflict continued till 5:30pm on Sunday. After that, around 11pm another conflict started and continued throughout the night.
Anwarur Islam, a member of Ward No 5 of Ghumdhum Union, said, "Intense shelling has been going on near the Ghumdhum border area since dawn, at times intermittently, and at times without a break.
"We observed a fire burning in the camp of the Myanmar border force in Dhekibaniya, a place located on the other side of the border adjacent to Ghumdhum, until 3pm. Simultaneously, helicopters were seen firing inside the Myanmar border."
Fear reigns in border areas
Seventy-year-old Abul Kalam, a resident of Konarpara, Tambru Bazar area of Bandarban, has been away from his family since Saturday.
The women of the family sent the children safely to a relative's house in Ghonapara, a mile away, as mortar shells and bullets hit their houses. But he was still around to look after the domestic animals, fields and houses, Abul Kalam said.
Terrified by the sound of gunshots, Abul Kalam fled.
Like Abul Kalam, many people of Konarpara, Hindupara, Paschimkul, Uttarpara and Madhyampara are spending their days like this.
They have sent their family members to Ukhiya in Cox's Bazar.
Dil Mohammad Bhutto, a member of the local Ghumdhum Union Parishad, told TBS that many residents of the border area have gone to safe shelters. "We have received no government guidance or assistance so far. People have left safely at their own risk."
Locals said that more than two hundred people from 34 families in Konarpara are currently homeless. They have taken refuge in relatives' houses in nearby Gonapara or Ukhiya.
Besides, about a hundred families of Hindupara, Paschimkul, Uttarpara and Madhyampara are homeless.
Nabi Hossain, a snack vendor in Tambru Bazar, told TBS, "Everyone is panicking because of the firing."
Dil Mohammad Bhutto, a member of the local Ghumdhum Union Parishad (UP), told TBS the residents of the border area have gone to safe shelters.
"We have received no government guidance or assistance so far. People have left safely at their own risk. People are still spending their days in fear," he added.
95 BGP members take refuge
A total of 95 members of Myanmar's BGP have taken refuge in Bangladesh amid clashes with Myanmar's insurgent group, the Arakan Army.
The Border Guard Bangladesh (BGB) have disarmed them. The injured are being treated.
BGB Headquarters Public Relations Officer Shariful Islam told TBS a total of 95 members of Myanmar's border guards took refuge in Bangladesh from Sunday morning to Monday morning.
Further activities in this regard are ongoing, he added.
Bangladesh's border with Myanmar stretches 271.0 kilometers (168.4 miles), from the tri-point with India in the north to the Bay of Bengal in the south.
Bangladesh played a critical role in sheltering over a million Muslim minority Rohingyas who fled their home in Rakhine and took refuge in Bangladesh to evade persecution, particularly after a 2017 army crackdown but the current crisis visibly has little to do with the Rohingyas.
