Arakan News Agency
A Bangladeshi child was killed and several others were injured on Sunday morning after stray bullets fired during armed clashes inside Myanmar crossed the border into Bangladesh’s Teknaf area in Cox’s Bazar, according to Bangladeshi security sources.
Local media quoted Khokon Chandra Rudra, officer-in-charge of the Whykong Police Outpost, as saying the incident occurred at around 9:00 a.m. in the Techchhibridge border area under Whykong Union of Teknaf. Gunfire originating from the Myanmar side reportedly struck residential areas inside Bangladeshi territory.
The victim was identified as Afnan, a seven-year-old girl and daughter of Jasim Uddin, a resident of the same area. The identities of the other injured individuals could not be immediately confirmed.
According to local residents and police, heavy fighting broke out inside Myanmar near the border between Arakan militias and an armed Rohingya group whose identity remains unclear. The two sides reportedly exchanged gunfire for at least an hour.
Security officials said members of the Rohingya armed group later retreated toward the border’s zero line, after which clashes intensified again. During this renewed fighting, bullets fired from the Myanmar side hit a Bangladeshi house near the border, killing the child.
Following the incident, units from the Bangladesh Police, Rapid Action Battalion (RAB), Border Guard Bangladesh (BGB), and the Armed Police Battalion (APBN) were deployed to the area. However, access to the exact location was delayed as angry local residents blocked roads for nearly three hours, protesting the violence and demanding stronger security measures and accountability.
The blockade was later lifted after discussions with authorities, and the situation returned to relative calm, though fear and tension remain high among residents. Police confirmed that the child’s body remains at her family home amid widespread shock and mourning.
Border areas between Myanmar and Bangladesh, particularly along Arakan State opposite Teknaf, have seen repeated escalation of armed clashes between various groups.
In past years, cross-border shelling and stray gunfire have caused civilian casualties and displacement in Bangladeshi border villages, raising growing concerns over civilian safety as fighting continues near the frontier.
