Bangladesh’s interior chief on Monday claimed that weapons smuggled in from abroad were driving violence in the country’s southeast borderlands with India, where three people were killed in fresh clashes, AFP reported.
The unrest broke out Sunday in the Chittagong Hill Tracts after security forces confronted demonstrators protesting the alleged rape of a woman. Three people died in the violence.
The army accused rebel groups of opening fire, while protesters said troops were responsible for the shootings.
Bangladesh has faced political instability since student-led protests pushed former prime minister Sheikh Hasina into exile in India last year, straining Dhaka’s ties with New Delhi.
Interior ministry head Jahangir Alam Chowdhury alleged that “arms are coming from outside the country,” and claimed these weapons were being used by “miscreants firing from the hilltops,” though he gave no specifics.
The Hill Tracts have long seen tensions between Indigenous peoples and Bengali settlers, often erupting in disputes over land and resources.
Protesters said their anger stemmed from the alleged gang rape of an Indigenous woman on September 23.
“We had been demonstrating peacefully, with rallies and road blockades,” a student protester told AFP of Sunday’s march in Khagrachari district.
“The military fired shots, killing at least three of us and injuring around a dozen,” the protester said, requesting anonymity out of fear of reprisals.
The army rejected the accusation, insisting it was not behind the deaths.
