Rohingya refugee wounded as gunfire from Myanmar hits Bangladesh border

DHAKA, Bangladesh (MNTV) — Heavy gunfire from Myanmar spilled across the border into Bangladesh late Thursday night, injuring a Rohingya refugee and sparking fear among residents in camps near Cox’s Bazar — home to nearly one million displaced Rohingya.

According to local authorities, the exchange of fire erupted along the frontier in Ukhiya subdistrict, where several refugee camps are located just a few kilometers from Myanmar’s Rakhine state. 

The shooting, which began around 11 p.m. and continued for more than three hours, was believed to be a clash between the Arakan Army — an ethnic Rakhine insurgent group — and the Arakan Rohingya Salvation Army (ARSA), a Rohingya armed faction opposed to Myanmar’s military rule.

Eighteen-year-old Md. Yaser, a Rohingya resident of Camp 12 in Thaingkhali, was struck by a stray bullet while inside the camp. He was later taken for medical treatment after sustaining an injury to his abdomen, according to camp officials.

Lt. Col. Mohammad Josim Uddin, commander of the Border Guard Bangladesh (BGB) battalion in Ukhiya, said security forces were on “high alert” following reports of intense gunfire near the Balukhali border outpost. “We are closely monitoring the situation across the frontier,” he said.

Witnesses in Palongkhali and Rahmater Bil villages — areas along the southeastern tip of Bangladesh bordering Myanmar’s Maungdaw region — said they heard continuous bursts of gunfire echoing through the night. Many families in the densely populated refugee camps stayed awake in fear of further escalation.

Cross-border tensions have intensified in recent months as Myanmar’s military junta faces growing resistance from ethnic armed groups, including the Arakan Army, which now controls much of Rakhine state. 

The fighting has edged dangerously close to the border, where Bangladesh shelters refugees who fled Myanmar’s 2017 military crackdown that the United Nations has described as ethnic cleansing.

Bangladesh’s authorities have repeatedly expressed concern that renewed conflict in Rakhine could destabilize the border region and threaten fragile security in the sprawling refugee settlements of Cox’s Bazar — now the world’s largest refugee camp network.