World News | Banned tribal gear kills 2 soldiers in Bangladesh: Army

Dhaka, May 17 (PTI) Two Bangladeshi soldiers were killed and two others were wounded when a newly formed tribal outfit attacked an army in the mountains of the southeastern part of the country, the Army said on Wednesday.

The attack happened late on Tuesday when security forces rushed to the Rumma area of ​​Bandarban district after receiving intelligence about a makeshift “terrorist hideout” of the Kukichin National Army (KNA) group, whose fighters sent They opened fire, the Defense Department’s Interagency Public Relations (ISPR) Directorate said.

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A security crackdown on the group is underway.

“A Bangladesh Army patrol . . . was exposed to a sudden improvised explosive device (IED) explosion and gunfire by terrorists, killing two soldiers and injuring two officers,” ISPR said in a statement on Wednesday.

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A military helicopter rescued people from the scene, but two soldiers died of their injuries at a military hospital in the port city of Chittagong, while two others are being treated there.

The KNA is said to be an armed wing of the Kuki Chin National Front (KNF), an outlaw group controlled by the Bome minority community, one of 16 different tribes in the southeastern Chittagong Tracts (CHT).

“Recently, KNA has attempted to create anarchy by carrying out terrorist activities in the Ruma, Roangchhari and Thanchhi subdistricts of Bandarban,” the statement said.

Bangladesh police and other security agencies said a manhunt was underway to track down and arrest KNF chief Nathan Boom.

In March, KNA carried out a nearly identical attack that killed a senior junior officer and wounded two soldiers.

On its Facebook page, the KNF claims to represent six of CHT’s 16 ethnic minorities, which cover one-tenth of Bangladesh’s total land area. The outlawed group called for a separate state in two of the three mountain regions, with multiple subdivisions.

Security officials earlier said the KNF, an armed group dominated by the Pomeranian community, is reportedly allied with a newly formed Islamist militant group that has taken refuge in the country’s rugged mountains.

(This is an unedited and auto-generated story from a Syndicated News feed, the content body may not have been modified or edited by LatestLY staff)