At least eight people were killed and several others injured in violent clashes between two ethnic groups in the rugged areas of Bangladesh’s Bandarban district. The incident took place on Thursday night in the Rowangchhari sub-district in the country’s south-eastern Bandarban district, which is the epicenter of the insurgency.
Clashes and firing were witnessed late Thursday night in a remote area of Bandarban’s Rowangchhari sub-district, a senior army officer said. At the same time, 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 that after the clash, around 200 people left their homes and took shelter in the army camp in Rowangchhari. Police said that the reason behind the clash was not known. However, the police suspect that members of a newly formed outfit called Kuki Chin Front (KNF), a breakaway faction of the United People’s Democratic Front (UPDF), were involved in the incident.
Security officials said the KNF has emerged as an armed group, mostly dominated by the Bom ethnic community, and has reportedly forged an alliance with an Islamist militant group in the hills.
They are demanding that a separate state be formed out of the three hill districts with several sub-districts from two of them. “The terrorist activities of KNF forced the residents there to leave their homes and come to our (Army) camp for temporary shelter,” the security officer told media outlets.
“We have given them shelter and made arrangements for their food with the help of the civil administration,” Captain Faheem, an officer from the Bangladesh Army’s Bandarban zone, told reporters.
