MAUNGDAW: Myanmar border guard police force patrolling near the Myanmar-Bangladeshi border outside Maungdaw, northern Rakhine state recently — Reuters YANGON, Nov 18 (Reuters): Myanmar police shot and injured four Rohingya Muslims on Sunday, after detaining two men accused of smuggling people out of a camp for displaced people in western Rakhine state, a witness and police told Reuters.
Some 20 police entered Ah Nauk Ye camp, about 15 km (9 miles) east of the state capital Sittwe on Sunday morning, apprehending the two men accused of owning a boat used in an attempt to smuggle 106 Rohingya out of the country on Friday.
The rickety vessel, which carried 25 children among its passengers, had been bound for Malaysia when authorities stopped it south of Yangon, detaining those on board.
The incident, and similar recent boat departures, have raised fears of a fresh wave of dangerous voyages after a 2015 regional crackdown on people smugglers.
Maung Maung Aye, a 27-year-old Rohingya Muslim from the camp who witnessed the shooting, told Reuters four people were injured in the incident, with two of them in serious condition.
"People from the camp went out to look and police shot at people," he told Reuters by phone.
Police said the Rohingya surrounded them with swords and threw stones at them, injuring some officers.
"I heard that Bengali from the camp tried to grab the arrested people back from the police and police had to fire warning shots. I heard some Bengali got injured. I don't know the details," said police inspector Than Htay from a nearby police station.
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