About 1,000 ethnic Rohingya villagers from Myanmar forced their way Monday into Bangladesh after coming under fire from Myanmar soldiers, in fallout from violence unleashed last week when Rohingya insurgents attacked police posts in Myanmar’s western Rakhine state.
The Muslim villagers, who were seeking refuge from the ongoing violence in Buddhist-majority Myanmar, had been in a border no man’s land for two days. Bangladeshi border guards, who had provided them with food and water, on Monday sought to push them back to their own country.
A Bangladeshi local Government representative, Jahangir Aziz, said that when Myanmar troops fired their guns, the crowd ran back and broke through a Bangladesh barricade and cordon of 300-400 guards.
He said they then scattered, with at least some making it to unofficial camps for unregistered refugees.
Rohingya leaders and intelligence officials said 8,000-9,000 Rohingya have entered Bangladesh since the violence broke out last Thursday when Rohingya insurgents attacked Myanmar police posts.