Members of Border Guard Bangladesh (BGB) have sent back 146 Rohingyas as they attempted to enter Bangladesh amid the escalating tension in Myanmar's Rakhine state following an attack by insurgents on 24 police posts and an army base.
Lieutenant colonel Ariful Isalm, commanding officer of Border Guard Bangladesh battalion-2, on Friday said Rohingyas are trying to flee their country amid Myanmar security forces crackdown on insurgents after the attack.
Myanmar has been reinforcing its border police in their border areas for the last several days, he said, reports UNB.
"We're on alert along Bangladesh border and are trying hard to prevent illegal entry through the border, vigilance has been strengthened in the frontier areas," said the BGB official.
Residents of Whykong union of Teknaf upazila got panicked hearing the rattles of gunshots from Myanmar Border Police outpost along Bangladesh border since early Friday.
According to villagers, many Rohingyas have been entering Bangladesh crossing Naf River.
Quoting Rohingya nationals who have entered the country, residents of Teknaf upazila said members of Myanmar Army and Border Guard Police launched a crackdown on Rohingyas in Rakhaine as a grenade was found at Naypyidaw BGP camp.
"We've heard the sounds of gunshots in the Myammar's frontier state," said Dr AKM Iqbal Hossian, superintendent of Cox's Bazar police, adding police force in Teknaf have been put on alert.
Harun Shikder, a resident of Ulubunia village in Whykong union of Teknaf, said that they heard the sounds of gunshots from the other side of the Naf River along the Myanmar border from 3:00am.
Deputy Commissioner of Cox's Bazar Md Ali Hossain said they are looking into the matter.
According to Reuters, Muslim militants armed with guns and machetes attacked Myanmar security forces at several police and border outposts overnight in a troubled northern state, with 32 deaths confirmed in the clashes so far.
