Bangladesh is being shelled by Myanmar warplanes. Bangladesh on Sunday summoned Myanmar’s ambassador to Dhaka for the third time in two weeks in protest against the growing border tension and violation of the Bangladeshi airspace.
It may be recalled that Myanmar violated the airspace of Bangladesh in July 2018 as well. In August 2017, after hundreds of thousands of Rohingyas fled to Bangladesh to escape the Myanmar army’s ethnic cleansing, Myanmar helicopters flew over Bangladesh’s airspace at least three times. Even then, Bangladesh officially protested.
Myanmar’s Ambassador in Dhaka U Aung Kyaw Moe was summoned to the State Guest House Padma in the capital Dhaka after two mortar shells fired by Myanmar’s forces landed inside Bangladesh on Saturday.
“We summoned Myanmar’s ambassador over the recent landing of Myanmar’s mortar shells inside Bangladesh. We strongly condemned the violation of airspace and shelling along the border areas,” Miah Md. Mainul Kabir, a Foreign Ministry official, told Anadolu Agency.
The two shells fell inside the no-man’s land in the northeastern district of Bandarban. However, no injuries or property damage was reported.
Earlier, two shells landed in the same district on Aug. 28 and the following day the Foreign Ministry summoned Myanmar’s envoy to lodge a protest.
According to the police investigation centre at Ghumdum in the hill area of Bandarban, at least two fighter jets flew over the Bangladesh border firing at least eight rounds, while two military helicopters fired more than 30 shells.
According to the Border Guards Bangladesh and Rohingya leaders living in Bangladesh have stated that from Aug. 31 to Sept. 9 (two days were off), the Myanmar Army continued its attacks, patrolling, and surveillance on the Bangladesh-Myanmar border. On Sept. 3, the Bandarban area of the Myanmar-Bangladesh border saw a series of ferocious strikes from fighter jets and helicopters. The Myanmar Junta’s aggressiveness in the last few days makes it clear that the country has become reckless. It should be noted that Myanmar also violated Bangladesh’s airspace in July 2018. Myanmar helicopters flew over Bangladesh’s airspace at least three times in August 2017, as hundreds of thousands of Rohingyas fled to Bangladesh to escape the Myanmar army’s ethnic cleansing.
Following the incidents, Bangladesh directed its border forces to extend monitoring and safety measures throughout the tension-gripped borders. Border residents have been instructed to remain vigilant.
Tension also mounted inside Bangladesh as heavy gunfights between the Myanmar army and the Arakan Army fighters intensified recently.
Bangladesh currently hosts over 1.2 million Rohingya refugees who fled Myanmar’s Rakhine State following a brutal military crackdown in August 2017.
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