Staff Reporter :
Within a week, Myanmar has again violated the international border rules of sovereignty by firing shells and gunshots from fighter planes inside Bangladesh territory in Bandarban on Saturday.
Local police said that the incident of the series of fierce attacks by helicopters and warplanes was carried out in Ghumdhum area around 9:30am. However, no casualty was reported.
Soon after the firing, law enforcers in the area have been beefed up and local police, administration and Border Guard Bangladesh are on high alert, Bandarban Superintendent of Police (SP) Tariqul Islam said.
Police and local sources said that two fighter planes and two helicopters were patrolling across the Myanmar border between BGB-BOP Border at 40-41 pillars in Ghumdhum’s Tumbru area in the morning.
At one point the warplanes fired around 10 rounds of shells and two of these landed 120 metres inside Bangladesh territory. Apart from it, the helicopters also fired some 30-35 rounds of bullets in the area.
Firing was also reported from Muringajhiri Camp and Tambru Right Camp in Myanmar.
However, this is not the first instance that Myanmar has violated the international border rules.
Earlier on August 28, two unexploded mortar shells were found near Ghumdhum’s Tumbru border in Bandarban’s Naikkhyangchhari area. Police said the shells fell close to a mosque half a kilometre from the border while BGB has been looking into the matter.
It is believed that the shells were fired during a confrontation between the Myanmar Border Police and rebel groups.
The military junta has used Bangladesh airspace to attack the Arakan Army (AA) by its helicopters, Myanmar news portals report.
Even in September 2017, just after the Rohingya exodus in August, Myanmar military drones and helicopter violated the airspace for three times on September 10, 12 and 14.
At that time Bangladesh also strongly protested the instances of violation of airspace by serving the protest note to its envoy Aung Myint in Dhaka.
In the last two incidents, Bangladesh protested the incident and summoned the envoys of Myanmar in Dhaka to hand over protest notes of verbal.
Bangladesh repeatedly told Myanmar not to repeat such incidents again but Myanmar side did not keep its promises.
When Bangladesh is struggling to commence the repatriation process of around 12 lakh Rohingyas to their homeland Rakhine State, Myanmar junta government is not showing its proactive role to settle the issue.
Rather Myanmar is violating the international rules of sovereignty through the violation of airspace and firing shells inside Bangladesh territory.
Myanmar government is not responding to the calls of Bangladesh and international community including ASEAN countries to address Rohingya crisis.
Soon after the exodus, Bangladesh proposed to Myanmar to build ‘safe zones’ for Rohingyas but the junta government rejected it.
Over the repeated firing in the border areas, a tense situation is prevailing and the locals are in fear.
