Over 58 Myanmar border guards seek shelter in Bangladesh

At least 58 soldiers of Myanmar's paramilitary Border Guard Police (BGP) escaping the junta-run country took shelter in Bangladesh amid reports of heavy gunfights between the government troops and the rebel resistance fighters, officials said here on Sunday. The soldiers entered through the Tambru border in predawn hours on Sunday and sought shelter from the Bangladesh Border Guard.

"Fifty-eight BGP personnel took shelter in Bangladesh throughout the day since the predawn hours. Fourteen of them crossed the border with bullet wounds and are being treated at different hospitals, including health facilities in Rohingya camps," said an official familiar with the development.

The official, who preferred anonymity, said the paramilitary soldiers were kept under their counterpart Border

Guard Bangladesh (BGB) custody in southeastern Cox's Bazar bordering Myanmar's Rakhine state while the weapons they carried were deposited in BGB cache.

The official said many of the soldiers came to

Bangladesh territory in combat uniforms and weapons while others were in their plainclothes leaving their arms back home.

"The BGB informed the development to their Myanmar counterparts," said the official.

Dhaka, meanwhile, expressing concern over the skirmishes in its border areas with Myanmar, said the violence was affecting Bangladesh's frontlines.

Road Transport Minister and Awami League General Secretary Obaidul Quader sought Chinese intervention to de-escalate the conflict given Beijing's close contacts with Burmese authorities.

Dhaka has said the violence was affecting Bangladesh's frontlines