Home ›› 03 Oct 2022 ›› Front
The Bangladesh Coast Guard (BCG) has increased patrolling and surveillance along the Myanmar border to prevent any intrusion including Rohingyas.
The maritime law enforcement force is on the highest alert so that internal conflicts of the neighbouring country do not trigger any chaotic conditions on the border in Teknaf of Cox’s Bazar, the coast guard said on Sunday.
In a press statement, BCG headquarters media officer Lt Commander Khandakar Munif Taqi said the coast guard is working tirelessly to prevent intruders in the context of the internal unrest in Myanmar.
“Bangladesh Coast Guard is holding rigid position to prevent human trafficking, smuggling, drug trafficking, and Rohingya infiltration afresh.”
The Business Post correspondent in Cox’s Bazar quoting locals and border security officials reported, the Arakan Army, a pro-independence armed group, has been fighting and exchanging gunfire with Myanmar’s security forces for weeks in the Walidong Hills of Myanmar’s Rakhine State, across the border in Naikhongchhari.
According to local sources, shootings in Myanmar’s Rakhine have been a common occurrence now. People have been living under a threat ever since mortar shells have been falling inside Bangladesh’s border.
Bangladesh had strongly protested the tension at the border by summoning the ambassador of Myanmar to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, following incidents of mortar shells fired from a helicopter on August 28, September 3 and 16.
A Rohingya boy was killed and five others were injured as a mortar shell fired by the Myanmar army exploded at the Zero Point Rohingya Camp close to the international border in Tombru, Bandarban on September 16.
The coast guard, in its statement, said they have been carrying out the duty to deal with any kind of situation and to ensure the safety of life and property of the people of the country.
The maritime law enforcement force is conducting regular patrolling from Teknaf to Shahparir Dwip round the clock through modern high-speed boats while it has also deployed patrol ships in the sea, Lt Commander Khandakar Munif said.
Besides, the coast guard is monitoring the situation by deploying additional personnel in Teknaf, Shahparir Dwip, Baharchhara, and St Martin’s island, he added.
