Gunfire resumes near Whykong border, bullet lands deep inside Bangladesh territory
Most villagers residing near the northern part of Teknaf’s Whykong union woke up today morning to the sounds of continuous loud gunfire amidst the internal conflicts in neighbouring Myanmar
Nurul Absar, a resident of Majher Para village of Whykong union in Teknaf, finished reciting the Holy Quran in his living room around 5am while the rest of his family slept.
Moments later, a loud noise resembling a heavy object falling startled the household.
Rushing to the room, they found a bullet on the sofa near the window where Nurul Absar had been sitting just ten minutes earlier.
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Like Absar, villagers residing near the northern part of Teknaf's Whykong union woke up to the sounds of continuous loud gunfire amidst the conflicts in neighbouring Myanmar.
Starting around 5am, gunfire persisted for three hours until 8am.
The path between Nurul Absar's residence and the Bangladesh-Myanmar border comprises a highway, ponds, fish farms, extensive crop fields, salt fields, and the Naf River.
The bullet that struck the sofa in Absar's living room travelled at least a kilometre before reaching its destination.
Locals said bullets fired from Myanmar landed in a shop and some houses in the northern part of Whykong Union. They also reported seeing hundreds of rounds of bullets falling into the vast salt fields and fish farms in the region.
"We were out for the Fajr prayer when we heard loud gunshots. We were terrified. It stopped around 8am, but the situation still feels tense," said Sirajul Mostafa Lalu, a member of the Whykong Union Parishad.
Meanwhile, Ghumdhum Union Parishad Chairman AKM Jahangir Aziz reported a relatively calm atmosphere in the area. The last incident of gunfire occurred on Friday afternoon, he said.
However, another unexploded mortar shell was found in Ghumdhum of Naikhongchhari upazila of Bandarban. It was the third unexploded mortar shells found in the area so far.
In another development, an unidentified body of a young man has been recovered from the Rahmaterbil border area of Palongkhali union in Ukhiya, said Officer-in-Charge of Ukhiya Police Station Md Shamim Hossain.
The body was lying on an embankment since Friday morning. The police and border guards tried to rescue the body several times but could not get close due to the gunfire.
Locals on Saturday reached the embankment through a canal and recovered the body. They assume the deceased is a Rohingya as there are no locals missing.
Rebel factions in Myanmar's Rakhine State have been engaged in clashes with the junta since 3 February, primarily over the control of a border camp.
Persistent gunfire, mortar shells, and rocket explosions have marked the ongoing conflict.
Bangladeshis living in the border area have reported intense fighting, and there are concerns about the use of army helicopters strafing rebel fighters, heightening worries of substantial casualties.
At least 330 Myanmar citizens have entered Bangladesh seeking shelter since the conflict erupted. The shelter seekers from Myanmar include members of its Border Guard Police (BGP), army, customs and civilians, according to officials at BGB headquarters.
Two people were killed inside the Bangladesh border on 5 February after heavy mortar shells reportedly fired from Myanmar landed and exploded inside the Ghumdum border in Bandarban. At least ten people in Bangladesh have been injured so far.
Bangladesh's border with Myanmar stretches 271.0 kilometres (168.4 miles), from the tri-point with India in the north to the Bay of Bengal in the south.
