Myanmar militant commander killed in gun battle with Bangladeshi police

By SM Najmus Sakib

DHAKA, Bangladesh (AA) – A top commander of Myanmar's armed separatist group Arakan Rohingya Salvation Army (ARSA) was killed in a gun battle with Bangladesh police on Monday morning in the southeast Cox's Bazar coast, a senior official confirmed.

Law enforcement received information that about a hundred ARSA armed men planned to attack Rohingya refugee camp number 17 on Monday morning in retaliation for the deaths of its five men in a gun battle with the Rohingya Solidarity Organization (RSO) on Friday, Syed Haroon Or Rasheed, the commander of the 14 Armed Police Battalion (APBn), told Anadolu over the phone.

When the APBn force arrived at the Rohingya camp, the ARSA militants opened fire on them, Rasheed said, adding that the militants were forced to flee after nearly two hours of fighting, leaving behind their dead commander, later identified as Hossain Majhi.

Police have also recovered arms, ammunition, money, and a walkie talkie, he said.

The APBn has been on high alert and increased security around the Rohingya refugee camps since Friday's deadly gun battle between the ARSA and RSO, which killed five of the former group's men.

The situation has now been brought under control, with law enforcement in command of the refugee camps, according to the official.

According to APBn, the ARSA and RSO insurgent groups are active in Myanmar's northern Rakhine State, but in Bangladesh's Cox's Bazaar, they have locked horns to establish supremacy in the refugee camps.

Nearly 1.2 million Rohingya live in Bangladesh, the majority of whom fled a brutal military crackdown in Rakhine in Aug. 2017. Most of them are housed in overcrowded camps in Cox's Bazar district, but around 30,000 have been relocated to the island of Bhasan Char since late 2020.