The situation in Khamtang Khyang Para in Rowangchhari remains fraught with tension, less than 48 hours after a running gun battle between two locally-armed outfits that left eight of them dead on Thursday night, and families that reside in the area to evacuate.
According to the locals, Khamtang Para is home to 64 Khyang families -all have left the area in the wake of the firing. The Khyang are one of the smallest ethnic groups in Bangladesh
As the tension escalated, 44 of the families sought shelter in Rowangchhari Government High School, while the other 20 families took shelter at the Bom Community Center in Ruma Upazila after fleeing.
This morning, the army and upazila administration provided dry food and medical care to them.
Meanwhile, Superintendent of Police Md. Tariqul Islam has stated that no case has been filed yet in connection with this incident.
He said this during a media briefing on Saturday regarding an accused individual who was involved in violence and drug dealing and had eight cases hanging over him.
The post-mortem of the eight individuals who were killed in the clashes was completed this afternoon at the Bandarban Sadar Hospital. Their bodies were sent to their respective village homes through the Bom Social Council.
According to Ruma Upazila's Project Implementation Officer Mohammad Shahriar Mahmud Manju, the 20 families sheltering at the Bom Community Centre comprise 31 men, 30 women, and three children.
The PIO mentioned that 5 kg of rice, 1 kg of lentils, and 1 liter of oil per family was distributed among the 20 sheltered families.
Officials identified the United People’s Democratic Front (Democratic), a breakaway faction of the original UPDF led by Prasit Kheesa, and the Kuki-Chin National Front (KNF), the military wing of separatist Kuki-Chin National Army, were the two parties engaged in the fight.
Meanwhile, the Upazila Awami League has provided relief assistance at Rowangchhari Government High School.
UNO Md. Khorshed Alam Chowdhury of Rowangchhari upazila said that the upazila administration is providing all-round assistance.
On the other hand, transport workers have reported that the KNF has been blocking the movement of vehicles on some internal roads in Ruma and Thanchi upazilas since this morning in protest of the incident.
