Narinjara News

Bangladesh Army seize arms at Burmese Border

Dhaka, December 8: The Bangladesh Army and local security forces last week seized another several hauls of illegal arms in the regions bordering Burma during a joint operation, said an official report.

Another stash of arms consisting of 8 AK-47s, 8 SMGs, and 4000 rounds of bullets were discovered from two camps, which were about seven kilometres away from the border.

The arms seized were from the Bandraban District, Nat Kaug Khali Township, and insurgent groups from Arakan State who are fighting against the Burmese military junta.

The Arakanese opposition groups see this current Bangladeshi military campaign in the border areas as part of the plan to clear the path for the gas pipeline from Burma to India through Bangladesh.

 The pipeline would yield 150 million dollars a year to Bangladesh government coffer.

Bangladesh authorities claim that the Arakanese and Muslim insurgents are related to the local gunrunners and are engaged in the arms smuggling and illegal arms dealings in Bangladesh.

During the operation, there were some casualties from the Bangladesh Army.

According to the Bangladesh authority, there have been four skirmishes with insurgent groups and three Bangladeshi personnel were killed and two wounded.

Though the authority did not specify which group caused the casualties, rumours suggest that the skirmishers were from the Arakanese insurgent group called the Democratic Party of Arakan and that they were based in Roakhung Khali (Rakhaing Wa) Township, Bandraban Township.

Due to the violent clashes with the DPA forces, the local Arakanese people and the monks, who came from Arakan state, are facing great difficulties in their daily livelihood and travelling, says an Arakanese monk from the Bandraban District.

During the battle with the DPA on 27 November, the Bangladeshi armed forces had to use helicopters.#

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