Border areas calm after heightened tensions

COX'S BAZAR, Mar 4: The situation in Tumbru and Ghundum border areas in Naikhongchhari upazila was calm on Sunday after a flag meeting earlier between Border Guard Bangladesh (BGB) and Myanmar Border Guard Police (BGP).

According to border sources, no BGP men had been seen patrolling the barbed wire fence area at the zero point of Tumbru since Sunday morning. But some Myanmar day-labourers were seen working for road construction near the barbed fence, locals said.

When contacted, the 34th battalion Commanding Officer of BGB in Cox's Bazar Lt Col Monzurul Ahsan Khan told this correspondent on Sunday evening that the border situation at Ghundhum and Tumbru returned to normal as Myanmar removed their additional force from the near zero line. BGB men were put on alert and were observing the situation, he said.

Locals and Rohingya people became panicked as Myanmar troops with heavy arms started patrolling the border fence three days ago. The patrolling centred a strip of no-man's land where some 6,500 Rohingyas took shelter there after fleeing crackdown in Rakhine of Myanmar.

After strong protest by BGB in Friday's flag meeting Myanmar defended the deployment and said it was for their internal security and not targeted at Bangladesh.

Rohingya leader Arif Ahmed and Dil Mohammad told reporters that they did not hear any announcement from the BGP on Sunday. There were no provocations from the side of the BGP.

However, the Rohingyas living on the no-man's land were feeling insecure, they said.

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