Rohingya teenage boy slain in Myanmar mortar attack
One Rohingya teenage boy has been killed and six others wounded as mortar shells fired from Myanmar hit refugee camp in Bangladesh.
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The incident took place on Friday in the Rohingya camp near Ghum Dhum district in Bandarban district of Bangladesh.
At least four mortar shells hit the camp and the surrounding areas around 8 p.m. local time, according to the deputy commissioner of Bandarban, Yasmin Parveen Tibriji.
“One of the shells hit our camp directly. Two other shells fell near the camp and one landed inside the Bangladesh territory,” said local Rohingya leader Dil Mohammad.
Colonel Fayzur Rahman, the spokesperson of the Bangladesh Border Guard, confirmed the death of a Rohingya boy.
Rahman said that the authorities will express their strong protest over the incident to the Myanmar authorities.
“One Rohingya is confirmed dead. We are trying to gather details as it happened in the darkness. We heard of two mortar shells. One of them remained unexploded. Whatever it is, we are going to lodge a strong protest through diplomatic channels,” Rahman told EEF.
This was the latest of several incidents between the Myanmar army and the insurgents known as the Arakan Army, who demand greater autonomy for Rakhine Buddhists.
Local media reported that a Myanmar army helicopter had invaded Bangladesh's skies in late August to attack insurgents.
Bangladesh's foreign minister, Abdul Momen, told reporters in Dhaka this week that the border with Myanmar has been completely closed and the country's border guards are on high alert.
About 936,000 Rohingya refugees have fled Myanmar to Bangladesh, including 774,000 who survived a wave of violence and persecution by the Myanmar military in August 2017.
This crackdown has led to accusations of ethnic cleansing and genocidal intent against the Myanmar military.
