Dhaka, Nov 7:
Bangladesh security forces rescued at least 57 abducted individuals, including several Rohingya refugees, following a fierce gun battle with human trafficking syndicates in the border forests of Teknaf, military authorities confirmed on Friday. An army soldier lost his life during the operation.
According to the military’s Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR), the raid was launched in the rugged Rongikhali hills after intelligence revealed that an armed gang of 15 to 16 traffickers had kidnapped approximately 120 Bangladeshi nationals and displaced refugees. During the exchange of heavy gunfire, 27-year-old soldier Md. Titash Sheikh sustained fatal gunshot wounds to his shoulder and succumbed to excessive blood loss.
Criminal cartels operating along the border frequently prey on the vulnerability of over 1.2 million displaced Rohingya refugees sheltered in camps across Cox’s Bazar, luring them with fraudulent promises of sea transit and overseas employment. The rescue operation comes ahead of the International Court of Justice’s scheduled November 19 verdict in The Hague regarding the 2017 military crackdown in Myanmar.