Bangladesh detains 53 Rohingya militants, issues Myanmar border ‘high alert’

DHAKA – Bangladesh issued a “high alert” along its Myanmar border after detaining 53 members of the Arakan Rohingya Salvation Army (ARSA) militant group for crossing into its territory, Dhaka paramilitary officials said on Jan 12.

At least two people – including a 12-year-old girl who suffered a gunshot – have been injured since Jan 11 in Cox’s Bazar, home to more than a million Rohingya refugees in Bangladesh.

“We are on high alert and have already detained 53 people for trespassing,” Colonel Moinuddin Ahmed of paramilitary Border Guard Bangladesh (BGB) told AFP.

Local witnesses said ARSA fighters were detained on Jan 11 after crossing into Bangladeshi territory.

“One of them (detained persons) has been sent to hospital while the rest are in police custody (and) legal procedures are ongoing,” Teknaf police station official Saiful Islam told AFP.

ARSA was formed to wage an insurgency against the stateless Muslim minority’s persecution in Myanmar and is also fighting rival Arakan Army guerrillas.

Bangladesh military officials say heavy fighting is ongoing across the border in Myanmar’s Rakhine state.

Around a dozen border villages in Myanmar have been affected because of heavy gunfire, mortar shelling and bombardment, according to Bangladesh villagers and paramilitary officials, with plumes of smoke visible from the Bangladesh side.

There is fear in Bangladesh border villages, with most people not stepping out of their homes and many donning helmets when they do.

A senior paramilitary official told AFP: “There is now a three-way conflict: ARSA is fighting the Arakan Army on the ground, while the military junta is conducting air strikes.”

Dhaka says it has deployed its law enforcement agencies in villages close to the border to keep tabs on the situation and possible illegal crossings. AFP