58 Myanmar border guards take refuge in Bangladesh

 
As many as 58 soldiers of Myanmar's paramilitary Border Guard Police (BGP) on Sunday took refuge in Bangladesh fleeing their posts amid reports of heavy gunfights between the government troops and the rebels in the junta-run country.

"Fifty eight BGP personnel took shelter in Bangladesh throughout the day since the predawn hours. Fourteen of them crossed the border with bullet wounds and are being treated at different hospitals including health facilities in Rohingya camps," said an official familiar with the development.

He added the paramilitary soldiers were kept under their counterpart Border Guard Bangladesh (BGB) custody in Cox's Bazar while the weapons they carried with them were deposited in BGB cache. The official said many of the soldiers came to Bangladesh territory in combat uniform and weapons while others were in their plainclothes leaving as well their arms back home.

"The BGB informed the development to their Myanmar counterparts," said the official, preferring anonymity. Dhaka, meanwhile, expressed concerns as the skirmishes in its borders with Myanmar was affecting Bangladesh frontlines with Road Transport Minister and Awami League General Secretary Obaidul Quader seeking Chinese intervention to deescalate the conflict in view of Beijing's close contacts with Burmese authorities.

"The internal war is their (Myanmar's) domestic concern. But when the sound of gunfights is heard in the border, naturally it creates panic in public mind. We, therefore, expected Beijing's intervention," Quader told newsmen after his meeting with the Chinese envoy.

Officials earlier said 14 BGP personnel crossed the border in predawn hours through the Ghumdhum border while a BGB spokesman in Dhaka thereafter asked journalists to await a media briefing on the development but no official briefing was made until the evening.

District administration of Bandarban, where the troubled frontier is located, closed five schools for security reasons fearing mortar shells or stray bullets to landside Bangladesh territory as the gunfights are underway on the other side of the border.

BGB asked local residents to stay indoors or move cautiously for safety while the skirmishes in southern and northern parts of Tombru, also known by the same name in Myanmar, appeared to be fiercest so far. Tombru is located in Ghumdhum union of Naikhongchhari upazila of Bandarban.

Officials said reports from other side of the border suggested army helicopters were strafing on rebel fighters escalating concerns of massive casualties.
Residents in frontier villages including local Union Parishad members said sounds of gunfights on the Myanmar side of the border on Saturday night and Sunday panicked residents in villages in the frontier.

Bangladesh earlier ordered an extra security vigil on border with Myanmar in view of the gunfights between the Myanmar military and the insurgent Arakan Army, which is active in the bordering Rakhine region of the country.

Meanwhile, Bangladesh has sought China's intervention amid panic along the border over fighting between the Myanmar military and the Arakan Army rebel group.

Road Transport and Bridges Minister Obaidul Quader revealed the information after a meeting with Chinese Ambassador Yao Wen at the Secretariat in Dhaka on Sunday.

Bangladesh is suffering because of the clashes, Quader said, as homes and vehicles were hit by bullets fired during the fighting on the other side of the border.

Two Bangladeshis were also injured in the firing while mortar shells fell on the Bangladesh side of the border. As many as 14 members of Myanmar Border Guard Police have also crossed the border and taken shelter in Bangladesh.

"We are suffering some damages. Our airspace has been violated. China has excellent ties with Myanmar. So we've asked them if they can do something in this case," Quader said.

The sound of gunfire and shelling has also panicked the Bangladeshis along the border, he said. "This is why we've asked for China's intervention."

He said he discussed the repatriation of Rohingya refugees to Myanmar with the Chinese ambassador and the envoy assured him of cooperation.