Residents of Bandarban have been regularly waking up to sounds of gunfire and news of traffickers of all types being arrested. The 3rd September announcement of the capture of a camp operated by the Kuki-Chin National Front (KNF) became a national media flashpoint due to its scale. It followed a month-long operation by Bangladesh Army units responsible for the region, combing the surrounding hilly terrain for any suspicious activity. This camp was located at a remote point close to the eastern border regions close to the meeting point between the borders of Bangladesh, India, and Myanmar. [bdnews24]
In Chandanaish Upazila, close to Bandarban proper, six suspicious local individuals with bladed weapons, a locally-made firearm, and thirty rounds of ammunition, among other tools. These individuals were captured on the 22nd of September by troops from the 12 Field Regiment Artillery. [Jugantor]
It is interesting to note that this story has been used by partisan news outlets in Myanmar to claim that those arrested were members of the Arakan Army or were at least under suspicion of being members. Corroboration of articles and verification of images related to the incident proves that such was not the case.
Busts of yaba traffickers continued through mid-September, as the Border Guard Bangladesh (BGB) completed a 2-month-long drive on the 15th of September. The drive ended in the capture of 188 individuals along with the seizure of drugs, alcohol and arms. The worth of the narcotics seizure has been estimated to be around 88.9 crore BDT (7.3 million USD). Seized weapons included locally-made crude firearms, one Kalashnikov, two G3 battle rifles, and one Burmese-origin MA-1 assault rifle, among others. [Bangladesh Sangbad Sangstha]
Separate raids prior to the 15th of September in Bandarban also ended in the arrest of individuals for trading yaba. An arrest of three took place on the 12th of September in Ghumdhum, close to the Tumbru border area. Members of BGB’s 34th Battalion captured these three individuals with around 40,000 pills of yaba. All those arrested were Rohingyas who were residing in the refugee camp in Ukhiya. [The Business Standard]
Two days prior to that on the 10th, a lone woman was arrested with 110,000 pills of yaba. This arrest also took place not far from the Tumbru border area in Ghumdhum. The middle-aged woman was detained by the Department of Narcotics Control in conjunction with local police units. [DBC News]
Tatmadaw airstrikes in the township of Kyauktaw on the 12th of September have drawn intentional attention and condemnation as the casualties turned out to be school students. Two 500-pound bombs were dropped, leading to up to 22 killed and another 22 injured [Deutsche Welle]. It had been September’s most notable incident of violence against rebel territory carried out by the Myanmar military junta.
In relation to constant month-long fighting across the border, residents of Ghumdhum and adjacent border villages have been within hearing range of gunfire. Instances that began in early August also picked up again on the 19th of August. BGB officers responsible for the area suspected that the gunfire was from combat between the Arakan Army and Rohingya militant groups. [The Daily Star]
Scattered reports of fighting have emerged from various sources, including but not limited to social media, local news outlets from border regions and in Myanmar, press briefings by the Arakan Army (AA) and other militant groups. A pattern of sporadic gunfights and assaults on outposts has emerged.
It is impossible to accurately pinpoint and track such incidents occurring in Myanmar territory. However, the uncovering of the corpses of murdered Arakanese villagers around 30 kilometers from the Tumbru border has raised tensions locally. The bodies were uncovered on the 28th of September. [Narinjara News]
Combined with the aforementioned reports of fighting, some of the territory in Myanmar adjacent to Bandarban has been a contested zone. This area has been marked with an orange polygon in the locator map.
A blockade announced by the Jumma Chhatra Janata was extended to Bandarban, with protests propping up on the 29th of September. This blockade was initially limited to Khagrachhari by outraged locals protesting the sexual assault of a high school student on the 23rd of September and the escalation of violence since then. Agitation and unrest in Bandarban based on this issue eventually proved to be minimal in scope.
Verification Note: Information sourced from and corroborated based on news reports from various sources. Sources are carefully weighed for authenticity and acceptability prior to mapping and writing. Map icons are placed as closely as possible to the site of the incident through triangulation, as reported by sources. Polygonal shapes to mark areas of interest are based on scattered reports that could not be pinpointed accurately.
Fatin Anwar is an Associate Analyst at Bangladesh Defence Journal. He is responsible for in-depth research and analysis in combination with OSINT tools/techniques A gradaute of geography from the University of Dhaka, he had previously spent years working as a freelance writer specializing in research-heavy pieces related to geopolitics and military history.