KUTUPALONG, Bangladesh: Bangladesh police admitted for the first time Tuesday that an insurgent group ordered last year’s murder of a respected Rohingya leader, saying they were threatened by his growing popularity.
The assassination of Mohib Ullah last September sent shockwaves through the sprawling border settlements that house hundreds of thousands of stateless Rohingya refugees who fled a violent crackdown in neighboring Myanmar.
Hours after the 48-year-old was gunned down in Kutupalong, the world’s largest refugee settlement, his family accused the Arakan Rohingya Salvation Army (ARSA) of orchestrating the killing.
The militant group is waging an insurgency in Myanmar and has been accused of running narcotics, murdering political opponents and instilling a climate of fear in the camps.
Security forces have routinely denied ARSA operates in the camps and blamed Ullah’s death on an unrelated turf war.
But the police investigation has made headway in recent weeks and the inspector manning the probe said Tuesday that 15 people with ties to the group had been arrested for their role in the killing, four of whom have issued confessions.
“In their statement the four claimed they are ARSA members and they got instructions from ARSA leaders to kill Mohib Ullah,” Gazi Salahuddin told AFP.
“A meeting was held on the night of September 27 to assassinate Mohib Ullah. There were leaders of ARSA (in the meeting) and they demanded he be killed,” he said.
Salahuddin said he believed the murder was ordered ARSA chief Ataullah, who is believed to be in Myanmar, because of the victim’s growing following.
“They thought Mohib Ullah and his organization had become more organized and popular than ARSA. So they killed him,” he said.
“Mohib Ullah was working against ARSA and was raising awareness about the group’s criminal activities.”
The militant group has previously denied any involvement in the community leader’s murder.
More than 850,000 Rohingya refugees live in Bangladesh refugee camps, most of whom fled a brutal military crackdown in Myanmar that is now the subject of a genocide case at the UN’s highest court in The Hague.
Working among the chaos and unease in the camps, Ullah and his colleagues quietly documented the crimes that his people suffered at the hands of the Myanmar military while pressing for better conditions.
The former schoolteacher shot to prominence in 2019 when he organized a protest of about 100,000 people in the camps to mark two years since their exodus.
He also met then US president Donald Trump in the White House that year and addressed a UN meeting in Geneva.
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Insurgents murdered Rohingya leader, Bangladesh police admit
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Insurgents murdered Rohingya leader, Bangladesh police admit
- The assassination of Mohib Ullah last September sent shockwaves through the sprawling border settlements
- Security forces have routinely denied ARSA operates in the camps and blamed Ullah's death on an unrelated turf war
Philippine president announces new gas find in waters facing the disputed South China Sea
MANILA: Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. announced the discovery of a new natural gas deposit near an existing gas field in waters facing the disputed South China Sea, which could shield his country from a potential power crisis.
The discovery of the gas reservoir northwest off Palawan province was “significant” and could eventually supply power to more than 5.7 million households annually, Marcos said Monday.
The undersea reservoir is estimated to contain about 98 billion cubic feet (2.7 billion cubic meters) of gas. Initial tests showed 60 million cubic feet (1.6 million cubic meters) of gas could be extracted each day from the well, Marcos said without providing other details including when commercial production could start.
“This helps Malampaya’s contribution and strengthens our domestic gas supply for many years to come,” Marcos said. “Aside from the natural gas, the discovery also includes condensate, which is a high-value liquid fuel.”
The new gas deposit, called Malampaya East 1, was discovered by a Philippine consortium about 5 kilometers (3.1 miles) east of the main Malampaya gas field, where commercial gas production started more than two decades ago and was projected to considerably decline in a few years.
The Malampaya gas to power facility has generated more than 20 percent of the electricity to Luzon, the most populous northern Philippine island region. In 2023, Marcos extended an exploration contract in Malampaya by 15 years.
Experts have predicted Malampaya could run out of gas in a few years, which has sparked fears of a potential power crisis in Luzon, where the bustling capital and main financial and business district is located.
The offshore gas field lies within the country’s Exclusive Economic Zone of the Philippines, a 200-nautical-mile (370-kilometer) stretch of water from a country’s coastline where it has exclusive rights to explore and harness resources under the 1982 United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea.
Philippine efforts to explore for oil and gas in another offshore region, the Reed Bank, has been stalled for years because of opposition from Beijing, which claims sovereignty over the area along with most of the South China Sea. The Reed Bank also lies in the fringes of the South China Sea west of the Philippine island province of Palawan.
Vietnam’s oil and gas exploration in the disputed region also has been opposed by China. Beijing claims virtually the entire South China Sea and has reinforced its presence including coast guard and naval patrols in the disputed waterway in recent years.
Malaysia, Brunei and Taiwan also have been involved in the region’s long-simmering territorial standoffs.
The discovery of the gas reservoir northwest off Palawan province was “significant” and could eventually supply power to more than 5.7 million households annually, Marcos said Monday.
The undersea reservoir is estimated to contain about 98 billion cubic feet (2.7 billion cubic meters) of gas. Initial tests showed 60 million cubic feet (1.6 million cubic meters) of gas could be extracted each day from the well, Marcos said without providing other details including when commercial production could start.
“This helps Malampaya’s contribution and strengthens our domestic gas supply for many years to come,” Marcos said. “Aside from the natural gas, the discovery also includes condensate, which is a high-value liquid fuel.”
The new gas deposit, called Malampaya East 1, was discovered by a Philippine consortium about 5 kilometers (3.1 miles) east of the main Malampaya gas field, where commercial gas production started more than two decades ago and was projected to considerably decline in a few years.
The Malampaya gas to power facility has generated more than 20 percent of the electricity to Luzon, the most populous northern Philippine island region. In 2023, Marcos extended an exploration contract in Malampaya by 15 years.
Experts have predicted Malampaya could run out of gas in a few years, which has sparked fears of a potential power crisis in Luzon, where the bustling capital and main financial and business district is located.
The offshore gas field lies within the country’s Exclusive Economic Zone of the Philippines, a 200-nautical-mile (370-kilometer) stretch of water from a country’s coastline where it has exclusive rights to explore and harness resources under the 1982 United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea.
Philippine efforts to explore for oil and gas in another offshore region, the Reed Bank, has been stalled for years because of opposition from Beijing, which claims sovereignty over the area along with most of the South China Sea. The Reed Bank also lies in the fringes of the South China Sea west of the Philippine island province of Palawan.
Vietnam’s oil and gas exploration in the disputed region also has been opposed by China. Beijing claims virtually the entire South China Sea and has reinforced its presence including coast guard and naval patrols in the disputed waterway in recent years.
Malaysia, Brunei and Taiwan also have been involved in the region’s long-simmering territorial standoffs.
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