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Journalism of Courage
DHAKA, DECEMBER 30: Border force commanders of Bangladesh and Myanmar have met to discuss a cross-border shooting on Tuesday and made progress towards reconciliation, Bangladeshi security officials said today.
“The meeting was held between battalion commanders (of two countries) at a zero point on the mutual border yesterday,” one officer of Bangladesh Rifles (BDR) said.
“We heard that progress had been made (at the meeting) towards a reconciliation, but we are still awaiting details,” said the officer who declined to be named.
“The three-hour exchange occured early on Tuesday as the Myanmar frontier force Nasaka fired on our camp across the border without any provocation,” Lieutenant Colonel Mohammed Wasim of BDR said yesterday.
“The Nasaka used heavy machine guns while BDR silenced them with mortars,” he said, adding it was not immediately known if there were any casualties.
Myanmar’s military government in a fax message to Reuters Bangkok bureau said the reports of exchanges of fire on its border with Bangladesh were “amusing, but annoying” rumours aimed at creating misunderstanding between friendly countries.
But another officer at BDR headquarters in Chittagong said today that “the exchange of fires between the two forces across the border at Tumbru, 65 km southeast of Cox’s Bazar resort town on Tuesday, followed (by) yesterday’s border meeting are daylight facts.”
Bangladesh’s official BSS news agency said in a report from Cox’s Bazar late yesterday that people at Tumbru had been relieved of tension and fears by the “fruitful” meeting between the BDR and Nasaka.
The latest shootout followed the arrest of two suspected Myanmar militants armed with sub-machine guns along the frontier on Sunday, officials said.
