Myanmar 'rebels' attack BGB team

Myanmarese separatist group Arakan Army swooped on a Border Guard Bangladesh patrol team in Boro Modak area of Thanchi in Bandarban yesterday morning, leading to a gun battle that left one nayek injured.

BGB Nayek Jakir Hossain was shot during the gunfight that started around 9:30am, said Col Waliur Rahman, sector commander of Bandarban BGB.

He was taken to Combined Military Hospital (CMH) in Chittagong by helicopter, sources in the BGB said, adding that he was out of danger.

Soon after the attack, additional BGB men from nearby camps joined the gun battle that continued until 3:00pm, reports our Bandarban correspondent. 

Additional BGB and army men from camps in Ruma, Thanchi, Ali Kadam and Bandarban Sadar were dispatched to the remote area by helicopter.

The joint force took the situation under control as the separatist group retreated. An operation was going on to capture the attackers yesterday evening.

A jet of Bangladesh Air Force was in the sky over the area.

A joint force of Bangladesh Army and the BGB will launch an operation today at the remote Thanchi border of Bandarban to flush out members of the Myanmar separatist group.

"We are sending more force there and will launch an all-out operation tomorrow [today] to flush them out," BGB Director General Maj Gen Aziz Ahmed told The Daily Star over the phone.

"We have requested the Myanmar Army to seal the border on their side so that they [Myanmar Army] could take action against the separatists during the drive," he said, adding the Myanmar counterpart assured them of all sorts of help.

Echoing the BGB boss, Home Minister Asaduzzaman Khan Kamal told reporters, "We will root them [the separatists] out from the area in a combing operation so that they cannot create such a situation again."

BGB officials believe that the group might have carried out yesterday's attack as BGB men on Tuesday seized 13 horses being sent to the group through the area.

On July 14, BGB personnel rescued two Myanmar Army men abducted by the armed group. The two army men were handed over to Myanmar three days later.