Rohingya kid shot in no-man's land

A Rohingya child in no-man's land was wounded when Border Guard Police (BGP) of Myanmar opened fire from its territory along Tambru border in Bandarban's Naikhyangchhari upazila yesterday.  

Injured Ansar Ullah, 11, son of Jamir Uddin, was undergoing treatment at MSF Hospital in Cox's Bazar's Kutupalong, said Sadia Afrin Kochi, Naikhyangchhari upazila nirbahi officer. 

The UNO said a patrolling BGP man from Myanmar territory opened fire on a group of 15-20 Rohingya children, who were playing football at Konapara in the no-man's land, around 4:30pm. Ansar suffered injuries to his right leg.

The BGP troop fired without any provocation, she said.

Later, Border Guard Bangladesh members, with the help of the Rohingya community leaders, rescued the boy and took him to the MSF Hospital, the UNO added.

Ansar, who is an inhabitant of Raymonkhali village in Maungdaw of Myanmar, fled to Bangladesh with his family following a Myanmar military crackdown in August last year, Dil Mohammad, a Rohingya community leader, told The Daily Star.

According to an unofficial estimate, nearly 5,800 Rohingyas have been living in the no-man's land along the border since the Myanmar army launched a ruthless campaign against the community in northern Rakhine State in August 25 last year.

Around 700,000 Rohingyas have escaped Buddhist-majority Myanmar and taken shelter in Cox's Bazar.