COXâS BAZAR: Bangladeshi forces fought gun battles with Myanmar rebel groups and destroyed several camps in a series of raids this month along the heavily forested border between the two countries, security officials said on Sunday. âTwenty-six fugitive rebels from Myanmar, along with huge weapons and ammunition including 31 AK-47 rifles, were arrested during the raids,â a senior official of Bangladesh Rifles, (BDR), border guards said. No Bangladeshi troops were injured and rebel casualties could not be ascertained, he said.
In the latest incident, a rebel camp was destroyed following an hour-long encounter on Saturday afternoon at a forest near Naikkongchhari, 400 km southeast of Dhaka. âFour anti-personnel mines and 16,000 rounds of ammunition were recovered and a rebel was arrested in the latest raid on Saturday,â Lieutenant Colonel MA Awal of BDR told Reuters. Rebel groups with different political ideologies, and operating in Myanmarâs western state of Arakan, often set up temporary camps in Bangladesh to escape raids by Myanmar forces. |