By LAWI WENG Monday, October 12, 2009
http://www.irrawaddy.org/article.php?art_id=16979
Burmese and Bangladeshi warships faced off across the Bay of Bengal on
Monday as both nations built up naval and military forces along the
border, according to a report in the Dhaka-based The Daily Star on
Monday.
Quoting sources within the Bangladeshi armed forces, The Daily Star
reported that Burma had on Sunday brought in heavy tanks, artillery
guns, 12 warships and a frigate “as part of its preparation for a
large-scale conflict with Bangladesh.”
The Bangladeshi daily said that according to a Bangladeshi naval
official, Dhaka had reinforced its maritime border “in a bid to repulse a
Myanmarese incursion by preparing 30 warships in Chittagong and
Khulna.”
Bangladeshi Foreign Minister Dipu Moni reportedly rejected reports about
the heavy military build-up on the border at a press conference on
Sunday, saying it is a routine movement of security personnel.
However, the Bangladeshi daily cited several sources within the
country’s defense services who suggested the Burmese regime was
provoking a conflict.
The Irrawaddy was unable to independently confirm the reports with the Bangladeshi Ministry of Foreign Affairs on Monday.
Meanwhile, news of the standoff has to date gone unreported in Burma’s state-run press.
Tensions between Burma and Bangladesh mounted last week after Burmese
armed forces began erecting barbed wire fencing along its Bangladeshi
border.
According to The Daily Star, the Burmese government had deployed nine
light infantry battalions to the border region. However, Khaing Mrat
Kyaw, an editor at the Dhaka-based Narinjara news agency, told The
Irrawaddy on Monday that only five battalions had been moved into
position by Oct 7.
Bangladesh and Burma share a 320-kilometer border, partly demarcated by
the Naf River, a regular route for smuggling and illegal crossings.
Tin Soe, an editor for the Kaladan Press Network, based in Bangladesh,
said that a border-based military officer told Bangladeshi journalists
in Dhaka on Sunday: “We will solve this conflict through diplomatic
channels. If we can’t solve it, we have to go to war, because we don’t
want to lose an inch of land.”
Tin Soe said that the people living near the border are worried about
the potential conflict because they fear the Burmese junta’s troops will
bury a lot of landmines along the border.
