GoodS transport to and from Saint Martins island through trawlers and boats has remained suspended for nearly a week due to repeated shelling from Myanmar at the Teknaf border, leading to a food crisis.
鈥楳ore than 10,000 people live on this island. The people are suffering due to a shortage of food as communication with the mainland has remained suspended due to firing along the border from the Myanmar side,鈥� said St Martins union parishad chairman Mujibur Rahman.
A speedboat carrying a patient was shot at on Tuesday, creating a sense of panic, said Mujibur.
鈥楨ven today, gunshots were heard from Myanmar. The people of Saint Martins are in panic. If emergency food supply cannot be ensured, they will suffer more,鈥� he said.
Trouble started on June 5 when Bangladeshi election officials faced firing from Myanmar on the river Naf on their way back from the island after voting in the Teknaf upazila parishad election.
Upazila election officer Mehedi Hasan said that officials were returning to Teknaf by a trawler, which faced shelling from
Myanmar. Teknaf assistant commissioner of land, presiding officer, and
polling officer were among others in the trawler, which faced 25 to 30 rounds of shelling.
Teknaf upazila nirbahi officer Md Adnan Chowdhury said that all types of boats had to stay in safe places due to repeated shelling along the Teknaf border.
鈥楾he owners have stopped boat movement for the past five days. We have been informed that there is a food crisis in Saint Martins. We are thinking about alternative ways to take food to Saint Martins,鈥� he said.
Abdur Rashid, president of the Saint Martins Boat Owners Association, said that all types of trawlers
had suspended their movements due to firing at Bangladeshi trawlers from
Myanmar.
His own trawler was also shot at from Myanmar a few days ago while it was
crossing the cross-border river Naf.
鈥楾rawlers carrying food and essential commodities from Teknaf to St Martins are also unable to continue their movement. People are also in trouble due to this crisis,鈥� he said.
Md Yamin Hossain, Additional District Magistrate of Cox鈥檚 Bazar, said that authorities had no idea who was firing at Bangladeshi trawlers on the river Naf.
鈥楤ullets are being fired from the Myanmar side. We don鈥檛 know who is
shooting. We have reported the issue to higher authorities,鈥� he said.聽
A tense situation has been prevailing along the border between Bandarban鈥檚 Naikhyangchari and Cox鈥檚 Bazar Teknaf amid fierce fighting, skirmishes, and聽 gunfire between the armed forces of the military junta and insurgent groups inside Myanmar since February.
A Bangladeshi woman and a Rohingya man were killed by a shell fired from Myanmar on February 5, while several others sustained injuries from a recent shellfire, prompting the displacement of border village residents by the government.
Bangladeshi fisherman Hossain Ali, 48, who was injured by a bullet allegedly fired by the Myanmar armed group Arakan Army while fishing in the river Naf, died on May 28 while undergoing treatment at Chittagong Medical College Hospital.
A meeting of the parliamentary standing committee on home ministry in April observed that the Bangladesh-Myanmar border situation might deteriorate by May 2024 due to the conflicting situation in the bordering region.
