Tension remained high along the Bangladesh-Myanmar border as of Wednesday evening amid a heightened risk of a fresh influx of Rohingya people as rebel group Arakan Army had established its full control along the border between the two countries in the Rakhine state.
Villagers dwelling close to the border in Bangladesh side shared their security concern. 鈥楢lthough the terrifying sounds of gun shots and bombing have stopped but this silence scares us. There is no certainty,鈥� said Aminul Islam from Teknaf on Wednesday afternoon.聽聽
No cargo trawlers from Myanmar arrived at Teknaf land port since Sunday afternoon as the upazila administration imposed an indefinite ban on vessel movement in the Bangladesh part of the Naf River, including the Teknaf-Saint Martins route.
Law enforcement agencies continued maintaining their beefed-up security measures along the Bangladesh-Myanmar border as of Wednesday. The security measures were stepped up following the Arakan Army鈥檚 capture of the last outpost of Myanmar鈥檚 Border Guard Police in the strategic western town of Maungdaw on Sunday.
Teknaf upazila administration, as did on Tuesday, repeated public announcements on Wednesday also about the indefinite ban on vessel movement in Naf River and safety measures.
Teknaf upazila nirbahi officer SK Ahsan Uddin confirmed on Wednesday evening that the border area remained silent since the Sunday evening.
鈥楧ue to the unstable situation along Myanmar border, the administration has instructed Bangladeshi fishermen and all types of vessel operators not to venture into the Naf River until further notice,鈥� he said.
Syed Mohammed Anwar Hossain, manager of United Land Port Limited, which operates the Teknaf land port, said that vessels from Myanmar that docked earlier at the port remained stuck there, unable to return home.
According to him, a cargo trawler carrying fish docked at the port鈥檚 jetty on Friday. Currently, four cargo trawlers remained anchored at the jetty and goods were being unloaded from two of them.
Rashid Ahmad, president of the Saint Martins Service Trawler Owners鈥� Association, said that 27 service trawlers and 47 speed boats, operating on the Teknaf-Saint Martin route, remained docked at the jetty following instability deepened in the border area, summoning stricter surveillance by the Border Guard Bangladesh and Bangladesh Coast Guard.
Tourist ships, however, operating between Cox鈥檚 Bazar and Saint Martin Island via the Bay of Bengal, would continue as usual, he said.
BGB Teknaf Battalion acting commanding officer Major Syed Istiaque Murshed could not be reached over phone for comment.
Coast Guard East Zone media officer Lieutenant Shakil on Wednesday said that the border situation did not deteriorate further but they remained on alert along the Bangladesh part of the Naf River to stop trespassing through the waterway.
On Sunday the Arakan Army, one of the most powerful ethnic minority armed groups battling Myanmar鈥檚 army, claimed the capture of the last army outpost in Maungdaw, gaining full control of the 271-kilometre-long border with Bangladesh.
Because of the geography with hills and streams, Tambru border area with Myanmar in Naikhongchhari upazila of Bandarban also remains vulnerable.聽 鈥楬owever, the recent development in Maungdaw has no impact on here so far. BGB personnel remain on high alert to check trespassing,鈥� said Naikhongchhari upazila nirbahi officer Muhammad Mazharul Islam Chowdhury.
