SITTWE, Rakhine State — Myanmar Border Guard Police have filed a complaint with Border Guard Bangladesh after a shooting between milepost No. 45 and No. 46 on the Myanmar-Bangladesh border.
Four Myanmar border police were shot by a group of armed men from the Bangladesh side around 5:45 p.m. on Sunday, said director-general of Myanmar’s State Counselor Office U Zaw Htay.
“The shooting came from inside Bangladesh. So, we’ve complained to the Bangladeshi border guards. They must investigate it,” said U Zaw Htay, adding that Myanmar border police provided their Bangladeshi counterparts with the exact location of the attack.
Nobody was injured and no ammunition was stolen in the shooting, said U Zaw Htay.
“So were Bangladeshi border police there at that time or if not who were the shooters? Who does [the Bangladeshi government] allow to operate at the border? Bangladesh must investigate this and give us an explanation,” he added.
The four Myanmar policemen based at milepost No. 45 in northern Maungdaw Township, Rakhine State, were returning from Aung Thabyay Police Station where they had received their salaries when they came under attack near Sali Taung village at milepost No. 46, according to U Zaw Htay.
A group of armed men fired over 30 shots at them from a hill in Bangladesh some 100 yards from the border fence, said U Zaw Htay.
It was followed by an exchange of fire, and then one of the four policemen rode a motorbike to Aung Thabyay Police Station and requested reinforcements. More than 20 police including the station’s chief went to the scene and rescued the other three policemen.
U Thein Shwe Oo, the administrator of Aung Thabyay village, reported hearing gunshots. “It is a worrying sign. So, I’ve told the villagers not to go outside the village alone, and not to go too far even when they are short on food and have to go fishing,” he told The Irrawaddy.
On Oct. 22, four Daingnet villagers of Aung Thabyay villages were attacked allegedly by Muslim militants while they were hunting boar between border mileposts post No. 46 and 47. Two were killed and two injured in the attack.
Translated from Burmese by Thet Ko Ko.
