Bangladesh security forces rescued at least 57 people, including Rohingya refugees, during a gun battle with suspected human traffickers near the Myanmar border, the military said on Friday, November 6, Reuters reported. One soldier was killed in the clash on the night of November 5.

Source: Reuters via EIN News

The Business Standard, reporting the Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) statement, said a Bangladesh Army soldier was killed in an exchange of fire with an armed human trafficking gang during a joint operation in Cox's Bazar's Teknaf on Thursday, November 5. The joint forces rescued 57 people held hostage by the gang and arrested five of its members, the ISPR statement said.

Source: The Business Standard (ISPR)

How the operation unfolded

The operation was conducted in the steep hills of Rangikhali in Teknaf after intelligence sources reported that around 120 Rohingya and Bangladeshi nationals were being held hostage by a group of 15 to 16 armed human traffickers, The Business Standard reported, citing the ISPR. The joint team was led by the Army's 10th Infantry Division, with Border Guard Bangladesh (BGB) and local police.

The armed gang members opened indiscriminate fire after detecting the presence of the joint forces, triggering an exchange of gunfire, the ISPR said. During the exchange, Army soldier Titas Sheikh, 27, was shot in the left shoulder and sustained serious injuries. He was taken for treatment and later declared dead at the Combined Military Hospital in Ramu, Bangladeshi reports citing the Army said.

Security forces recovered one pistol, one locally made firearm and four rounds of ammunition in the operation, the Army said in reports carried by Bangladeshi outlets. Local reports said the trafficking network had been preparing to smuggle the hostages to Malaysia by sea — a route repeatedly used from the Teknaf coast, where Rohingya refugees and poor Bangladeshis are held in the hills and moved onto boats.

Why Teknaf keeps drawing trafficking gangs

Teknaf sits at Bangladesh's southeastern tip, across the Naf River from Myanmar, and hosts and surrounds camps holding hundreds of thousands of Rohingya who fled Myanmar. The hills behind the camps have repeatedly been used by trafficking gangs to hold captives for ransom and sea crossings, and Bangladeshi forces have run repeated rescue operations in the same terrain.

What happens next

Bangladeshi reports said a special task force was continuing operations into early Friday to identify and arrest other members of the trafficking network. The five arrested suspects face investigation over the hostage-taking and the soldier's killing, while the 57 rescued people — Rohingya refugees and Bangladeshi nationals — are being identified and processed by the authorities.