DHAKA: Hundreds of Myanmar troops have abandoned their posts and crossed to Bangladesh since February amid intensifying clashes between the junta and an ethnic minority army, Bangladeshi border agency officials said on Wednesday.
Fighting between Myanmar’s military-controlled government forces and insurgents in Rakhine and Chin states began in late October 2023, with a multi-pronged offensive against the junta, which took over the country in early 2021.
Since then, the ethnic Rakhine Arakan Army has been locked in fierce battles against the Myanmar Armed Forces and border police in the two states bordering Bangladesh.
“Between last night and Wednesday morning, 46 members of Border Guard Police of Myanmar took shelter in Bangladesh through different borders of Jamchari, Rejupara and Baishfari under Bandarban district,” Shariful Islam, spokesperson of the Border Guard Bangladesh, told Arab News.
“With these, a total of 260 BGP members are currently in Bangladesh.”
The latest intrusion into Bangladeshi territory took place as authorities observed heavy gunfire on the Myanmar side of the border.
“Our border guard members are on high alert ... The battle situation is continuing between the Myanmar army, Arakan Army, RSO (Rohingya Solidarity Organization), and other separatist groups on the other side of the border in Myanmar,” said Lt. Col. Mohiuddin Ahmed, commanding officer of the BGB on Teknaf border, in Cox’s Bazar district.
“Since last February, Myanmar border guard members started fleeing into Bangladesh. When they take refuge in Bangladesh, first we disarm them and then shelter them in a safe place arranged by the district administration.”
Bangladeshi officials then repatriate the troops.
“Our top officials, home ministry, and foreign ministry contact Myanmar for the return of their border guard members,” Ahmed said. “Earlier, more than 300 Myanmar BGP members were handed over to Myanmar.”
The insurgents, who are in an alliance with Maynmar’s exiled National Unity Government, have captured a significant chunk of the territory neighboring Bangladesh, but are still far from controlling it, according to Maj. Gen. (rtd) Shahidul Haque, a security analyst who served as military attache at the Bangladeshi Embassy in Myanmar.
“The Arakan Army still hasn’t started their activities in some strategic cities of Rakhine like Sittwe, which is the capital of Arakan. There is another city named Kyaukphyu, where there are huge Chinese investments. If the Arakan Army takes over the control of Sittwe, then control of northern Rakhine will be under the Arakan Army,” he told Arab News.
While Sittwe is currently under curfew imposed by Myanmar junta forces, the escalation of fighting in Rakhine State has curtailed Bangladesh’s trade with Myanmar.
“Our official trade with Myanmar has fallen drastically as the Myanmar government officials who were in charge of different port operations have fled from those areas,” Haque said.
“It’s a huge loss for Bangladesh as we imported a significant amount of agricultural produce from Myanmar.”
The intensifying fighting was also likely to unleash a new wave of Rohingya seeking shelter in Bangladesh, which was already facing a refugee crisis.
More than a million Rohingya Muslims, most of whom fled Rakhine after a brutal military crackdown in 2017, have been staying in Bangladesh’s Cox’s Bazar, turning the coastal district into the world’s largest refugee settlement.
“Bangladesh may face another influx of Rohingya,” Haque said.
“Myanmar military has started massive bombings in some areas. Recently, more than a dozen Rohingya lost their lives in such attacks. This will cause a dangerous situation for us.”
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Hundreds of Myanmar troops flee to Bangladesh amid clashes with anti-junta rebels
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Hundreds of Myanmar troops flee to Bangladesh amid clashes with anti-junta rebels
- Insurgents in Rakhine and Chin states launched offensive against Myanmar junta forces in October 2023
- Bangladesh has already repatriated 300 Myanmar soldiers who crossed the border since February
Sri Lanka takes custody of an Iranian vessel off its coast after US sank an Iranian warship
- Sri Lankan President Anura Kumara Dissanayake said the country took control of the vessel after it reported an engine failure and that the decision followed talks with Iranian officials and the ship’s
COLOMBO: Sri Lanka began transferring more than 200 sailors from an Iranian vessel to shore Friday after the ship sought assistance while anchored outside the country’s waters, as tensions mounted in the Indian Ocean following the sinking of an Iranian warship by a US submarine.
Sri Lankan navy spokesperson Cmdr. Buddhika Sampath said 204 sailors of the IRIS Bushehr were brought to the Welisara Naval Base near the capital, Colombo. They underwent border control procedures and medical tests, but none were found to have health issues.
About 15 others have been left aboard the ship with Sri Lankan naval personnel for assistance because they had reported a fault with the ship.
The Iranian sailors are interpreting operational instructions, manuals and logs for their Sri Lankan counterparts because the ship will be in Sri Lankan custody until further notice, Sampath said.
The ship will be taken to the port of Trincomalee in eastern Sri Lanka, Sampath said.
Iranian ship was taking part in naval exercises
The Sri Lankan government took custody of the Bushehr after the US sank an Iranian warship, the IRIS Dena, off Sri Lanka’s coast Wednesday. The strike marked one of the rare instances since World War II in which a submarine sank a surface warship, and highlighted the expanding scope of the US-Israeli military campaign against Iran.
The Dena had participated in naval exercises hosted by India before heading into international waters on its way home. At least 74 countries had joined the events, according to India’s Defense Ministry, including the US Navy, which conducted reconnaissance aircraft and maritime patrol drills.
The Indian navy received a distress signal from the Dena but by the time it launched a search and rescue operation, the Sri Lankan navy had already begun its own rescue efforts, the ministry said.
The Sri Lankan navy rescued 32 sailors and recovered 87 bodies.
Iran’s Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said the Dena had been carrying “almost 130” crew. The normal crew size for a warship of that class is 140.
Araghchi called the sinking an “atrocity at sea” and said the US would “bitterly regret” the attack.
Sri Lanka says it acted under international law
Sri Lankan President Anura Kumara Dissanayake said late Thursday that authorities decided to take control of the IRIS Bushehr after discussions with Iranian officials and the ship’s captain, after one of its engines failed.
“We have to understand that this is not an ordinary situation. It’s a request by a ship belonging to one party to enter into our port. We have to consider that according to the international treaties and conventions,” he told journalists Thursday night.
Separately on Friday, he wrote on X: “No civilian should die in wars. Our approach is that every single life is as precious as our own.”
The IRIS Bushehr had been described in previous Iranian media reports as a navy logistics ship equipped with a helicopter pad.
Dissanayake said Sri Lanka was guided by neutrality while seeking to uphold humanitarian principles.
“We have followed a very clear stance. We will not be biased to any state nor we will be submissive to any state,” he said.
Sri Lanka’s neutrality is tested
The broadening Middle East conflict is putting strategically located Sri Lanka in a delicate position as it tries to balance humanitarian obligations, international maritime law and its longstanding policy of non-alignment.
H.M.G.S. Palihakkara, Sri Lanka’s retired former foreign secretary who also served as its permanent representative to the United Nations, said the country had acted responsibly and impartially.
“There has been a distress call from the ship. So naturally Sri Lanka, as a party to the Law of Sea and The Hague Convention, had no option but to do what it did by mounting a humanitarian operation to provide assistance to save lives and provide medical care to the affected,” he said.
Palihakkara said parties to the conflict would understand that Sri Lanka was not taking sides.
“You could not have ignored the distress call. Even the attacking powers cannot leave shipwrecked sailors dying. That is the law,” Palihakkara said.
Katsuya Yamamoto, director of the Strategy and Deterrence Program at the Sasakawa Peace Foundation in Tokyo, said Sri Lanka, which is not at war with either the US or Iran, is considered a neutral state. As such, the Bushehr can enter a Sri Lankan port if granted permission by the government, he said.
Yamamoto said that once the vessel is docked, it falls under Iranian jurisdiction, leaving Sri Lankan authorities without legal grounds to inspect it unless Colombo decides to side with the US
Australians aboard submarine
Australia’s government confirmed on Friday that three Australians were aboard the submarine that sank the IRIS Dena. The Australians were there as part of the trilateral US, Australian and British training program under the AUKUS security pact.
The Australian government has maintained it was not warned that the USand Israel planned to attack Iran. Australia has not commented on the legality of the attack, but supports the objective of preventing Iran from gaining nuclear weapons.
Neil James, executive director of the Australian Defense Association policy think tank, said it is “reasonably rare” for Australians embedded with another nation’s military to go to war against a country such as Iran that Australia wasn’t at war with.
He said an Australian would not have fired the torpedo that sank the Iranian ship
“The Australians wouldn’t have a job where they had to push the button on the torpedo because the captain of the boat gives the order and someone else, perhaps the weapons officer, presses the button but they’re not going to be Australian,” James said.
Sri Lankan navy spokesperson Cmdr. Buddhika Sampath said 204 sailors of the IRIS Bushehr were brought to the Welisara Naval Base near the capital, Colombo. They underwent border control procedures and medical tests, but none were found to have health issues.
About 15 others have been left aboard the ship with Sri Lankan naval personnel for assistance because they had reported a fault with the ship.
The Iranian sailors are interpreting operational instructions, manuals and logs for their Sri Lankan counterparts because the ship will be in Sri Lankan custody until further notice, Sampath said.
The ship will be taken to the port of Trincomalee in eastern Sri Lanka, Sampath said.
Iranian ship was taking part in naval exercises
The Sri Lankan government took custody of the Bushehr after the US sank an Iranian warship, the IRIS Dena, off Sri Lanka’s coast Wednesday. The strike marked one of the rare instances since World War II in which a submarine sank a surface warship, and highlighted the expanding scope of the US-Israeli military campaign against Iran.
The Dena had participated in naval exercises hosted by India before heading into international waters on its way home. At least 74 countries had joined the events, according to India’s Defense Ministry, including the US Navy, which conducted reconnaissance aircraft and maritime patrol drills.
The Indian navy received a distress signal from the Dena but by the time it launched a search and rescue operation, the Sri Lankan navy had already begun its own rescue efforts, the ministry said.
The Sri Lankan navy rescued 32 sailors and recovered 87 bodies.
Iran’s Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said the Dena had been carrying “almost 130” crew. The normal crew size for a warship of that class is 140.
Araghchi called the sinking an “atrocity at sea” and said the US would “bitterly regret” the attack.
Sri Lanka says it acted under international law
Sri Lankan President Anura Kumara Dissanayake said late Thursday that authorities decided to take control of the IRIS Bushehr after discussions with Iranian officials and the ship’s captain, after one of its engines failed.
“We have to understand that this is not an ordinary situation. It’s a request by a ship belonging to one party to enter into our port. We have to consider that according to the international treaties and conventions,” he told journalists Thursday night.
Separately on Friday, he wrote on X: “No civilian should die in wars. Our approach is that every single life is as precious as our own.”
The IRIS Bushehr had been described in previous Iranian media reports as a navy logistics ship equipped with a helicopter pad.
Dissanayake said Sri Lanka was guided by neutrality while seeking to uphold humanitarian principles.
“We have followed a very clear stance. We will not be biased to any state nor we will be submissive to any state,” he said.
Sri Lanka’s neutrality is tested
The broadening Middle East conflict is putting strategically located Sri Lanka in a delicate position as it tries to balance humanitarian obligations, international maritime law and its longstanding policy of non-alignment.
H.M.G.S. Palihakkara, Sri Lanka’s retired former foreign secretary who also served as its permanent representative to the United Nations, said the country had acted responsibly and impartially.
“There has been a distress call from the ship. So naturally Sri Lanka, as a party to the Law of Sea and The Hague Convention, had no option but to do what it did by mounting a humanitarian operation to provide assistance to save lives and provide medical care to the affected,” he said.
Palihakkara said parties to the conflict would understand that Sri Lanka was not taking sides.
“You could not have ignored the distress call. Even the attacking powers cannot leave shipwrecked sailors dying. That is the law,” Palihakkara said.
Katsuya Yamamoto, director of the Strategy and Deterrence Program at the Sasakawa Peace Foundation in Tokyo, said Sri Lanka, which is not at war with either the US or Iran, is considered a neutral state. As such, the Bushehr can enter a Sri Lankan port if granted permission by the government, he said.
Yamamoto said that once the vessel is docked, it falls under Iranian jurisdiction, leaving Sri Lankan authorities without legal grounds to inspect it unless Colombo decides to side with the US
Australians aboard submarine
Australia’s government confirmed on Friday that three Australians were aboard the submarine that sank the IRIS Dena. The Australians were there as part of the trilateral US, Australian and British training program under the AUKUS security pact.
The Australian government has maintained it was not warned that the USand Israel planned to attack Iran. Australia has not commented on the legality of the attack, but supports the objective of preventing Iran from gaining nuclear weapons.
Neil James, executive director of the Australian Defense Association policy think tank, said it is “reasonably rare” for Australians embedded with another nation’s military to go to war against a country such as Iran that Australia wasn’t at war with.
He said an Australian would not have fired the torpedo that sank the Iranian ship
“The Australians wouldn’t have a job where they had to push the button on the torpedo because the captain of the boat gives the order and someone else, perhaps the weapons officer, presses the button but they’re not going to be Australian,” James said.
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