[🇧🇩-Land] Bangladesh Army VS Kuki Chin

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[🇧🇩-Land] Bangladesh Army VS Kuki Chin
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Explainer: Who are the Kuki-Chin Army in Chittagong Hill Tracts?​


Chittagong hill tracts

Chittagong hill tracts

The Kuki-Chin National Army (KNA) came to the spotlight again after two soldiers of the Bangladesh Army were killed in attacks reportedly carried out by the KNA in Bandarban.

The KNA has been in the spotlight for a while.

The security forces of Bangladesh launched an operation last year against the militancy in the hill tract areas, targeting those that they said were being trained by the Kuki-Chin National Front (KNF).

According to the military, the KNF were offering the training in exchange for money.

In October 2022, law enforcers discovered the KNF was training members of a new militant group named Jama'atul Ansa rFilHindal Sharqiya.


The KNF, a new armed group, wants independence for the mountainous area.

With their claim of responsibility for the 21 killings of CHT individuals in June of this year, the KNF emerged as a fresh source of worry.

The CHT, which consists of three districts Rangamati, Khagrachari, and Bandarban, is a remote region. The region, with its forest cover and numerous mountains, is a pick for numerous armed and separatist groups.

Many organisations in the bordering countries are politically connected to the KNF and have provided training to them.
According to local media, there are currently between 3,000 and 4,000 trained KNA members living both inside and outside the nation.

Who are they?

The Chin-Kuki-Mizo belong to the same tribe with different names residing in Myanmar, Bangladesh and India with close geographical proximity along the border region between the countries. This ethnic armed group is engaged in political and military endeavors to establish an independent state in the Chittagong Hill Tracts, which encompass the majority of the Bandarban and Rangamati districts.

Their political front, the KNF, also has an armed component known as the Kuki-Chin Army (KNA). It emerged as a non-profit development organisation, but since 2017, it has evolved into a separatist group.

The Kuki-Chin is a geographical grouping of numerous Tibeto-Burman language-speaking ethnic communities that make up the majority in the Indian state of Mizoram and the Chin state of Myanmar.

The KNF, often known as the "Bawm Party" locally, is made up of six members of the Kuki-Chin ethnic group: the Bawm, Pangkhua, Lusai, Khumi, Mro, and Khiang.

KNF leadership

The KNF president, Nathan Bom, passed his master's degree from the Fine Arts Faculty of Dhaka University.

He was an active member of the Dhaka metropolitan branch and central committee of the Parbatya Chattagram Jana Sanghati Samity's student organisationPahariChhatraParishad (PCP). He is also the founding president of Kuki-Chin National Development Organization (KNDO).

He was the first candidate from the Bam community as an independent candidate in the 2018 parliamentary election.

It is believed that implicitly the KNF does not support the Peace Treaty, which, according to different media reports, they feel overwhelmingly supports the Chakma clan – who have more national representation than other tribes in the region.

They are also found engaged in fierce battles with the JSS members and spread terror in villages to establish supremacy.
The JSS played a leading role in the peace accord.

The Chittagong Hill Tracts Peace Accord was a peace agreement signed between Bangladesh and the United People's Party of the Chittagong Hill Tracts, the political organisation that controlled the Shanti Bahini militia on 2 December 1997. The accord allowed for the recognition of the rights of the peoples and tribes of the Chittagong Hill Tracts region and ended the decades-long insurgency between the Shanti Bahini and government forces.

Regional and National Security at risk

The existence of such an armed group in isolated border regions has also put regional and national security at risk.
In the Indian border side, Mizoram shares 318 kilometers of border with Bangladesh. In the isolated regions of Mizoram state, there are a number of separatist organisations as well. On the other side, various rebel organisations such as the Arakan Army, Chin Defense Force, and Chin National Army are present in the Chin state of Myanmar. The connection and cooperation of KNF with these organisations will exacerbate the instability in the entire region, according to Geopolitics.

In addition to the Chittagong Hill Tracts, India and Myanmar are home to sizable populations of the Kuki-Chin ethnic group.​
 

One soldier killed as Army captures KNF headquarters with training camp in Bandarban​


An army patrol team was hit by an IED planted by the terrorists, says a ISPR press release


One soldier killed as Army captures KNF headquarters with training camp in Bandarban

UNB
Publish : 01 Jun 2023, 06:57 PMUpdate : 01 Jun 2023, 06:55 PM

An army patrol team on Thursday occupied a secret training camp with the headquarters of armed terrorists of KNF (Kuki-Chin National Front) in Thepi para area of Ruma upazila of Bandarban.

Following complaints from local residents living around the KNF training camp area, a patrol team of Ruma Sena Zone left for the camp on the basis of intelligence inputs for their safety. As the team approached the training camp, the KNF armed terrorist group fled, according to a press release of the – Inter Service Public Relation Directorate (ISPR).

However, at around 09:20am, the army patrol team was hit by an IED (Improvised Explosive Device) planted by the terrorists. One of the soldiers injured in the blast was rushed to Chittagong Combined Military Hospital by helicopter in a critical condition.

Later, the soldier Tujam (30), died while undergoing treatment at the hospital, it said.

Such potential IEDs are being identified and deactivated by the army's specialized team for the safety of the general public, it added.

Chief of Army Staff General SM Shafiuddin Ahmed expressed shock at the death of the soldier and conveyed his condolences to his family, the release also said.

In recent times, KNF terrorists have been creating anarchy in the hilly townships of Ruma, Roanchhari and Thanchi upazilas of Bandarban through continuous killing, kidnapping, creating panic in the public mind.
Bangladesh Army and other law enforcement agencies are working to prevent such human rights violations, the release further said.​
 

Another Bangladesh Army man killed in IED explosion in Bandarban​


An army patrol team was hit by an IED planted by the KNF terrorists, says a ISPR press release

Another Bangladesh Army man killed in IED explosion in Bandarban

Tribune Desk
Publish : 17 Jun 2023, 07:34 PMUpdate : 17 Jun 2023, 07:34 PM

An army soldier has been killed and another injured in an IED explosion in Bandarban's Ruma upazila.
The deceased was identified as Monnaf Hossain Raju, 21.

The incident took place at Chhilopi para in Ruma upazila at 1:30pm on Friday, said a media statement of Inter Services Public Relations (ISPR) on Saturday.

The IED (Improvised Explosive Device), planted by separatists of KNF (Kuki-Chin National Front), hit an army patrol team when they were on their way to Paynum Para area for distribution of fresh water and food saline from Bhipi Para TOB.

Soldier Monnaf Hossain Raju and Soldier Md Rezaul received serious injuries in several parts of their bodies by sprinters of IED.

They were shifted to Chittagong Combined Military Hospital by air force helicopter on an urgent basis for treatment where Monnaf succumbed to his injuries while undergoing treatment.

Chief of Army Staff General SM Shafiuddin Ahmed expressed shock at the death of the soldier and conveyed his condolences to his family, the statement said.​
 

Journalist arrested on suspicion of being informant of KNF​


Police say the arrestee is the assistant foreign affairs secretary of the KNF central committee

Journalist arrested on suspicion of being informant of KNF

S Bashu Das
Publish : 19 May 2023, 11:50 PMUpdate : 19 May 2023, 11:50 PM


Members of the Bangladesh Army have arrested a journalist in Ruma upazila of Bandarban suspecting him of being an informant to the Kuki-Chin National Front (KNF) separatist group.

The arrestee, Longa Khumi, who works at the Daily Manab Zamin, is known to be the assistant foreign affairs secretary of the KNF central committee.

Ruma police station Officer-in-Charge (OC) Md Alamgir Hossain confirmed the news on Friday, saying that a case has been filed against the journalist.

Longa Khumi was presented before the Bandarban Chief Judicial Magistrate's Court on Friday afternoon when the court ordered him to be sent to Bandarban district jail pending an investigation, OC Alamgir said.

“There were two cases against him at the station. He was shown arrested in these case,” he added.

According to the police, Longa Khumi had been providing information to the KNF under the guise of journalism for a long time.

He was arrested on the basis of the confidential KNF official documents the joint forces seized recently during the ongoing special operations in the district.

In the last few days, two army officers were killed in an ambush by the KNF armed members in Ruma and another local died in a landmine blast.

Since last year, the law enforcers have been conducting raids in different areas of Bandarban to arrest the members of KNF and militant group Jama'atul Ansar Fil Hindal Sharqiya, who are working in concert to destabilize the situation, police say.
 

KNF delegation sits with authorities for peace​


Four MoUs signed between two sides
Kuki-Chin National Front (KNF) and a peace establishment committee meet in Bandarban on Sunday, November 5, 2023. Photo: Dhaka Tribune

Kuki-Chin National Front (KNF) and a peace establishment committee meet in Bandarban on Sunday, November 5, 2023. Photo: Dhaka Tribune
S Basu Das, Bandarban
Publish : 06 Nov 2023, 12:00 AMUpdate : 06 Nov 2023, 12:00 AM


The first in-person meeting between armed separatist group Kuki-Chin National Front (KNF) and a peace establishment committee was held on Sunday amid heavy security.

The meeting was held at Munlaipara community center, 5km away from Ruma Sadar Upazila, at 11am.

Earlier, the KNF had held several video conferences with the peace establishment committee, but this was the first time that a direct meeting was held between the two sides.

The meeting, led by the committee chairman and Zilla Parishad Chairman Kya Shew Hla, was attended by seven members of the committee and five members of KNF.

Endar Lal Ang Lian, senior advisor to the president of KNF and team leader, represented KNF at the meeting.

Besides, government officials, police, security forces, and senior officials of intelligence agencies were also present.

"The KNF's six-point demand and the issue of bringing KNF members back to normal life were discussed in the meeting," Kya Shew Hla told reporters after the meeting.

"Dialogue between both sides took place in a very peaceful environment. The demands of KNF were discussed. But no decision was made," he added.

The next meeting will be held in December, he said.

Additional members of law enforcement agencies including police and the Border Guard Bangladesh (BGB) were deployed in the area before the meeting.

Four memorandums of understanding (MoU) were signed between the two sides during the long meeting on Sunday.

The 18-member peace establishment committee was formed in June this year with the leaders of various communities under the leadership of Zilla Parishad Chairman Kya Shew Hla to help KNF members return to normal life.

According to the understandings KNF will remain from taking up arms during the peace process and cooperate with the law enforcement agencies, the government will take all out effort so that Kuki people can return to homes. It said that KNF will send proposals to the authorities for the betterment of Kuki population in education, health, food and employment creation.

These proposals will be dealt with utmost sincerity. The final understanding, according to sources, states that the next date for talks will be decided upon discussion among both sides.

Since November 15 last year, at least 548 people from 132 families have taken refuge in Mizoram due to the armed activities of KNF and operations by different security agencies to arrest its members.

On January 28, some 140 Marma women, men and children took refuge in Ruma Sadar from Mulpi Para, but they returned to their homes on February 5.

On March 10, around 220 people of 56 families from Barathli 4 Union of Rangamati's Bilaichhari took shelter in Tangchangya Reichha and Rowangchhari Sadar Upazila in fear of the armed activities by the KNF members.

The KNF surfaced on the scene last year after the Indian border forces arrested a dozen members with arms and ammunition in Mizoram.
 

Militant outfit Kuki Chin involved in bank robberies: home minister

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Home Minister Asaduzzaman Khan. Star file photo

Home Minister Asaduzzaman Khan Kamal today said members of the militant outfit Kuki Chin are involved in the bank robberies at Ruma and Thanchi in Bandarban.

"Kuki Chin was involved in the bank robbery and firearms looting incidents. They also assaulted police constables, bank guards and Ansars," he told journalists at his ministry office in the capital.

"First, they switched off the electricity substation and then started looting valuables and firearms. Later, they abducted a local Sonali Bank manager when he was performing Tarabi prayers," he said.

The minister said that the militant outfit is also responsible for today's looting of cash and valuables at Krishi Bank and Sonali Bank at Thanchi.

The minister, however, said an investigation is ongoing to unveil more information regarding the incidents.

Police and BGB are carrying out operations to capture the culprits and rescue the looted items, he added.

"We will do everything necessary to bring the situation under control. Police and BGB have been carrying out their duties. If necessary, Bangladesh Army will also join the operation against Kuki Chin and other militant outfits," he added.

Kamal said Inspector General of Police (IGP) Chowdhury Abdullah Al Mamun, Special Branch Chief Md Monirul Islam and other high officials are now in Bandarban to assess the situation.

Replying to a question about border killings, he said that talks are going on with India to stop border killings. Basically, citizens of both countries who are engaged in illegal businesses are victims of such incidents, he added.​
 

Situation tense after Thanchi Bazar gunfight

1712270315813.png

Thanchi upazila. Image: Google Maps

The gunfight that erupted in Bandarban's Thanchi Bazar area has stopped, said police.

Deputy Inspector General (DIG) of Chattogram Range Police Nure Alam Mina told The Daily Star that the KNF terrorists opened fire on Thanchi Police Station from the east and south sides of the Thanchi Hill around 8:30pm prompting retaliatory fire by the law enforcers.

Later, the BGB and army personnel posted there also opened fire on the militants, he said.

"The situation is calm now. However, the situation is tense here. We are on alert," he added.

However, the gunfight triggered panic among the locals in the market and adjacent areas, days after armed terrorists robbed Sonali Bank and Krishi Bank in Thanchi Bazar.

Within 200 to 300 yards of Thanchi Bazar is Thanchi Police Station, a BGB camp. There is also a Bangladesh Army checkpost near the bazar.​
 

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