Bangladesh summons Myanmar envoy after border clashes

Rohingya refugees sell vegetables from a roadside stall at the Kutupalong refugee camp in Ukhia on Sunday. The refugees live in squalid conditions, where hope is a fragile but persistent force. (AFP)
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Updated 13 January 2026
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Bangladesh summons Myanmar envoy after border clashes

  • A dozen villages in Bangladesh’s Cox’s Bazar district have been affected by the violence

DHAKA: Bangladesh on Tuesday summoned the ambassador of Myanmar after civil war gun battles in the neighboring country spilled over the border, wounding a Bangladeshi girl.

Heavy fighting in Myanmar’s Rakhine state this month has involved junta soldiers, Arakan Army fighters and Arakan Rohingya Salvation Army militia guerrillas.

Authorities said around a dozen villages in Bangladesh’s Cox’s Bazar district have been affected by the violence.

Twelve-year-old Huzaifa Afnan was struck by a bullet, while a Bangladeshi fisherman had his leg ripped off after stepping on a landmine near the frontier.

“Bangladesh reminded that the unprovoked firing towards Bangladesh is a blatant violation of international law and a hindrance to good neighborly relations,” a Foreign Ministry press statement said.

Myanmar’s ambassador to Bangladesh, U Kyaw Soe Moe, was summoned to the Foreign Ministry on Tuesday, where he expressed sincere sympathy to the injured victims and their families.

“My daughter was supposed to go to school, but she is on a ventilator,” Afnan’s father Jasim Uddin said. “My heart is bleeding for my baby girl.”

More than a million Rohingya have fled their homes in Myanmar, many after a 2017 military crackdown, and now eke out a living in sprawling refugee camps just across the border in Bangladesh.

ARSA, a Rohingya armed group formed to defend the persecuted Muslim minority, has been fighting the Myanmar military, as well as rival Arakan Army guerrillas.

On Monday, Bangladeshi border forces detained 53 ARSA fighters who had crossed the frontier.

Bangladeshi police officer Saiful Islam, commander of the local Teknaf station, said all detainees were being held in jail, except one fighter who was receiving hospital treatment for bullet wounds.

“These individuals have a history of living in the refugee camps in Cox’s Bazar and crossing into Myanmar,” Islam told AFP.


About 140 US military personnel wounded in Iran war: Pentagon

Updated 10 March 2026
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About 140 US military personnel wounded in Iran war: Pentagon

  • “The vast majority of these injuries have been minor,” Pentagon spokesman Sean Parnell said
  • Seven US military personnel were also killed in Iranian attacks early in the conflict

WASHINGTON: About 140 US military personnel have been wounded in attacks since the start of the war against Iran, the Pentagon said on Tuesday.
“The vast majority of these injuries have been minor, and 108 service members have already returned to duty,” Pentagon spokesman Sean Parnell said in a statement.
“Eight service members remain listed as severely injured and are receiving the highest level of medical care,” he added.
Seven US military personnel were also killed in Iranian attacks early in the conflict — six in Kuwait and one in Saudi Arabia — the US military has previously said.
US and Israeli forces launched a massive air campaign against Iran on February 28, and Tehran responded with waves of missiles and drones targeting countries in the region that host US forces or bases.
Pentagon chief Pete Hegseth said earlier Tuesday that US strikes against Iran were intensifying, while the volume of drones and missiles launched by Iran has dramatically decreased.