Bangladesh clash: At least eight people were killed and hundreds were injured in violent clashes between two ethnic groups in the rugged areas of Bandarban district in Bangladesh, triggering panic and forcing locals to flee their homes, police said. said today (April 7).
The incident took place on Thursday (April 6) in Rowangchhari Upazila in Bangladesh’s south-eastern Bandarban district, which is a hotbed of militancy. “A remote corner of Rongchhari upazila (sub-district) of Bandarban witnessed clashes and firing late on Thursday night. Police officer Abdul Mannan said, “We have recovered eight bodies from the spot.”
Mannan said the bodies were brought to the sub-district headquarters on Friday for post-mortem and other legal formalities. Police said around 200 people fled their homes after the clashes and took shelter in an army camp in Rongchhari.
The reasons for the fight are not known. But the police suspect that members of the newly formed Kuki Chin Front (KNF), a breakaway faction of the United People’s Democratic Front (UPDF), were involved in the incident.
UPDF is a regional political party based in the Chittagong Hill Tracts of Bangladesh. The Chakmas form the majority ethnic group in the party. Formed in 1998, the group claims to seek a fully autonomous mountainous region through peaceful and democratic means.
Security officials said the KNF emerged as an armed group mostly dominated by the Bom ethnic community and reportedly allied with an Islamist militant group in the hills. The KNF claims to represent six of the 16 ethnic minority groups in the Chittagong Hill Tracts.
They are demanding the formation of a separate state with several sub-districts from two of the three hill districts. “KNF’s terrorist activities forced the residents there to leave their homes and come to our (Army) camp for temporary shelter. We have given them shelter and arranged for their food with the help of civil administration.”
Security agencies of Bangladesh said that a manhunt was underway to track down and arrest KNF chief Nathan Bom. Meanwhile, the authorities will maintain tight security in the affected areas. Authorities said that in the event of further violence, they could implement movement-restrictive measures, such as imposing a curfew in the area.
(With PTI inputs)
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