'Army camp pullout from CHT ongoing process'

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CHITTAGONG, Aug 19 (UNB): While controversies over troop pullout from the hill tracts are on stream, General Officer Comm-anding (GOC) of 24 infantry division Maj Gen Shamim Chowdhury Wednesday said withdrawing army camps from the CHT region is an ongoing process.
Addressing a press conference at the division office at Chittagong Cantonment, Gen Shamim said a total of 200 army camps had been withdrawn from the areas between 1998 and 2008 and 35 more would be dismantled this year.
Terming the pull out of troops 'transfer' he said army would be deployed there again, if necessary.
The GOC said: "The law-and-order situation of the Chittagong Hill Tracts (CHT) is satisfactory now after the signing of the CHT Peace Treaty. So, there is no need to spend money on maintenance of the army camps there."
The army pull out is being carried out as per directive of the government, he told the reporters at the news conference.
The present government of Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina on July 29 announced its decision to withdraw one brigade of troops and 35 temporary security camps from the CHT region by next month (September) in implementation of the Chittagong Hill Tracts Peace Treaty. And the pull out started on August 7 with the closedown of camps in the backwoods of the hill districts.