By Jay Shankar
Feb. 26 (Bloomberg) -- A rebellion by border security forces in Bangladesh’s capital, Dhaka, killed at least 49 people yesterday and is spreading outside the city today, the government and police said.
Clashes have taken place in at least 12 districts, a police official, who requested anonymity, said by telephone from the capital. Members of the Bangladesh Rifles, responsible for controlling the country’s borders, began the uprising yesterday, the government said.
Negotiations with the unit are continuing and the situation is “tense,” government spokesman Shazzad Haider said in a telephone interview from Dhaka. “The dead included the director general of the Bangladesh Rifles and 12 senior commanders.”
Bangladesh has had a history of military coups since its independence from Pakistan in 1971. An offer of amnesty by Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina Wajed ended yesterday’s clashes in Dhaka and the rebels surrendered their weapons, Haider said. Heavy gunfire resumed today at the Bangladesh Rifles’ headquarters in Dhaka, Agence France-Presse reported.
Hasina is scheduled to address the nation today, AFP said, citing Nakibuddin Ahmed, the prime minister’s deputy press secretary.
Shooting erupted early today at a border guard post in the southern town of Tekhnaf and violence was reported in posts at Cox’s Bazaar, Sylhet and Naikhongchari, the Associated Press said, citing unidentified witnesses.
Hostages Taken
Fighting broke out in the headquarters of the Bangladesh Rifles after soldiers took some of the officers hostage, Haider said by phone yesterday. The soldiers were demanding increased pay and better conditions, he said.
India, which shares a 4,000-kilometer (2,486-mile) border with Bangladesh, said the rebellion was an “internal matter” and expressed confidence that the conflict would be resolved.
“As regards our border with Bangladesh, the area is safe and secure,” the Ministry of External Affairs said in a statement on its Web site. Terrorist groups based in Pakistan and Bangladesh were working together and crossing the Bangladeshi border to carry out attacks on Indian territory, according to Indian security agencies.
The armed rebellion is of concern to India “because one of its neighbors has very low military discipline,” Sandeep Bhardwaj, a researcher at the New Delhi-based Institute of Peace and Conflict Studies, said in a phone interview. “ There are no direct implications as it is an internal affair of Bangladesh.”
The Bangladesh Rifles, with 67,000 soldiers, protects the nation’s borders and combats smuggling. Its members took up arms to fight Pakistan in 1971, according to a statement on its Web site.
To contact the reporter on this story: Jay Shankar in Bangalore at jshankar1@bloomberg.net
Last Updated: February 26, 2009 03:02 EST
Feb. 26 (Bloomberg) -- A rebellion by border security forces in Bangladesh’s capital, Dhaka, killed at least 49 people yesterday and is spreading outside the city today, the government and police said.
Clashes have taken place in at least 12 districts, a police official, who requested anonymity, said by telephone from the capital. Members of the Bangladesh Rifles, responsible for controlling the country’s borders, began the uprising yesterday, the government said.
Negotiations with the unit are continuing and the situation is “tense,” government spokesman Shazzad Haider said in a telephone interview from Dhaka. “The dead included the director general of the Bangladesh Rifles and 12 senior commanders.”
Bangladesh has had a history of military coups since its independence from Pakistan in 1971. An offer of amnesty by Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina Wajed ended yesterday’s clashes in Dhaka and the rebels surrendered their weapons, Haider said. Heavy gunfire resumed today at the Bangladesh Rifles’ headquarters in Dhaka, Agence France-Presse reported.
Hasina is scheduled to address the nation today, AFP said, citing Nakibuddin Ahmed, the prime minister’s deputy press secretary.
Shooting erupted early today at a border guard post in the southern town of Tekhnaf and violence was reported in posts at Cox’s Bazaar, Sylhet and Naikhongchari, the Associated Press said, citing unidentified witnesses.
Hostages Taken
Fighting broke out in the headquarters of the Bangladesh Rifles after soldiers took some of the officers hostage, Haider said by phone yesterday. The soldiers were demanding increased pay and better conditions, he said.
India, which shares a 4,000-kilometer (2,486-mile) border with Bangladesh, said the rebellion was an “internal matter” and expressed confidence that the conflict would be resolved.
“As regards our border with Bangladesh, the area is safe and secure,” the Ministry of External Affairs said in a statement on its Web site. Terrorist groups based in Pakistan and Bangladesh were working together and crossing the Bangladeshi border to carry out attacks on Indian territory, according to Indian security agencies.
The armed rebellion is of concern to India “because one of its neighbors has very low military discipline,” Sandeep Bhardwaj, a researcher at the New Delhi-based Institute of Peace and Conflict Studies, said in a phone interview. “ There are no direct implications as it is an internal affair of Bangladesh.”
The Bangladesh Rifles, with 67,000 soldiers, protects the nation’s borders and combats smuggling. Its members took up arms to fight Pakistan in 1971, according to a statement on its Web site.
To contact the reporter on this story: Jay Shankar in Bangalore at jshankar1@bloomberg.net
Last Updated: February 26, 2009 03:02 EST
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