Teknaf-Naikhangchhari border resounds with loud noise of shelling and explosions

Heavy explosions and gunfire were again heard along the border areas of Cox’s Bazar and Bandarban in Bangladesh, coming from Myanmar’s Rakhine state. Local residents living near the border reported that airstrikes and heavy shelling occurred there throughout Saturday night. Thousands of people in three unions, Ukhia and Teknaf in Cox’s Bazar, and Naikhongchhari in Bandarban, spent the night in terror from the deafening sounds.

The border areas shook from mortar shells and bomb explosions across the border. However, there were no reports of any shells landing on Bangladesh soil.

Sirajul Mostafa, a member of Ward 2 of the Whykong Union Parishad in Teknaf, confirmed to Prothom Alo that airstrikes and shelling took place in Rakhine state throughout Saturday night. He said that from 11 pm on Saturday until 3 am on Sunday, the deafening sounds of mortar shells and bombs were heard intermittently across the border, causing some areas near the Whykong border to tremble.

Talking to local representatives, it was learned that the sounds of explosions were heard in several villages in Palongkhali and Rajapalong unions of Ukhia, Whykong Union of Teknaf, and Ghumdhum Union of Naikhongchhari. Many people expressed concern about this on social media.

Multiple sources along the border reported that at around 11 pm on Saturday, the country’s junta forces suddenly carried out an airstrike on positions of the Arakan Army, the armed group currently controlling Rakhine State. The Arakan Army launched a counterattack. The sounds of explosions continued until the early hours of the morning. Flashes from the explosions were seen in Balibazar area of Rakhine State, located about 15 kilometers east-southeast of Border Pillar BRM-18 and roughly 13 kilometers inside from the Zero Line.

Locals said the Arakan Army headquarters is located there. On the Bangladeshi side, Whykong in Teknaf and Palongkhali in Ukhia lie opposite Balibazar. After five years, Myanmar under the junta is holding elections. In this situation, gunfire was again reported from Rakhine.

When asked about the gunfire across the border, Lieutenant Colonel Jasim Uddin, commander of the Border Guard Bangladesh (BGB) Ukhia Battalion (64 BGB), said that the sounds of explosions were heard inside Myanmar near the Whykong BOP area. Nothing has occurred inside Bangladeshi territory. Nevertheless, the BGB remains on high alert along the Naf River and the Bangladesh border, and the overall situation across the border is being closely monitored.

Borhan Uddin, a trader from Rahmat’er Bil village in Ukhia, said that around 11 PM on Saturday, the sounds of gunfire and explosions came from across the Myanmar border, shaking the entire area and frightening the residents.

Locals confirmed that explosions were also heard in Ghumdhum, Tumbru, Patharkata, and Chakma Para border areas of Naikhongchhari. In Teknaf, areas including Ulubonia, Kharangkhali, Whykong, Lombabil, and Techchi Bridge, as well as in Ukhia’s Anjuman Para, Nalbonia, Rahmat’er Bil, and Dhamnkhali border areas, the sounds of explosions and gunfire were heard.

Local representatives and border residents said that after a long hiatus, people near the Teknaf border heard intermittent mortar shelling and gunfire from Rakhine State on the night of December 13. Some of the shells landed on homes, fish farms, and rice fields of Bangladeshi border residents. On the night of 17 December, gunfire from Myanmar’s Rakhine State was again heard for several hours.

Multiple border sources reported that for several days, the country’s official forces have been launching new attacks on positions of the Arakan Army in Rakhine State. Meanwhile, three armed Rohingya groups, the Arakan Salvation Army (ARSA), the Arakan Rohingya Solidarity Organization (ARSO), and the Rohingya Nabi Hossain Force, have engaged in armed clashes with the Arakan Army.