The Inter Services Public Relations said on Sunday that two members of ethnic armed group Kuki-Chin National Front, who were involved in recent bank looting in Thanchi upazila, were killed in the remote Baklaipara of Ruma upazila in Bandarban.
The ISPR, in a statement, said that three arms, ammunition, transceiver sets and other equipment were seized in the operation.
The army carried out a patrol operation at about 3:30am and searched Baklaipara at about 4:00am, said the statement.
During the raid, the ISPR said that the KNF 鈥榚xtremists鈥� opened fire, targeting army patrol team, triggering the army to
retaliate. The exchange of fire left two KNF 鈥榚xtremists鈥� killed and several others injured.
This is the second such incident after the ISPR on April 22 said that another army operation left one member of the KNF killed in the remote Moonlai Para of Ruma upazila.
The latest killings came 10 days after at least one army corporal was killed and two others, including a junior commissioned officer, were severely injured in an ambush, allegedly carried out by the KNF in Bandarban on April 19.
Kamal Uddin Ahmed, chairman of National Human Rights Commission, said on Sunday that they kept eyes on the rights situation in the Chittagong Hill Tracts.
On April 2, the KNF launched an attack to loot Tk 1.5 crore from the vault of the state-owned Sonali Bank鈥檚 Ruma upazila branch and abducted the branch manager Nezam Uddin in their failure to loot the cash.
They, however, looted at least 14 firearms and over 400 bullets, beating members of law enforcement agencies.
On April 3, the KNF also looted Tk 17 lakh in cash from the Sonali Bank and Krishi Bank branches in Thanchi upazila.
The abducted Sonali Bank manager was rescued on April 4 through negotiation by the Rapid Action Battalion.
Police officials in Bandarban said that a total of nine cases were filed with Ruma and Thanchi police stations, following the robberies, arms looting, and abduction between April 2 and 3.
Some 78 people were arrested in this connection, they added.