Deadly clashes in Rohingya camps after ICC prosecutor visit
- Six people were killed in the latest violence between two rival insurgent groups and came hours after the murder of a refugee community leader
- Bangladesh is home to a million ethnic Rohingya, most of whom fled a 2017 military crackdown in Myanmar, which is now subject to a genocide probe
Six Rohingya people were killed in Bangladesh refugee camp clashes that broke out hours after an International Criminal Court prosecutor visited the settlements to gather testimony, police said Friday.
Bangladesh is home to around a million ethnic Rohingya people, most of whom fled a 2017 military crackdown in neighbouring Myanmar that is now subject to a genocide probe at the UN court.
This week’s violence was the latest in a series of deadly clashes between the Arakan Rohingya Salvation Army (ARSA) and the Rohingya Solidarity Organisation (RSO), two rival insurgent groups operating in the camps.
Faruq Ahmed, a spokesman for the Armed Police Battalion that looks after security in the refugee camps, said five people had been shot dead in a gunfight before dawn on Friday.
“All five who were killed in the gunfight are members of ARSA including a commander,” he said, adding that security had been stepped up in the camps as a result.
Ahmed said that the violence came hours after the murder of Ebadullah, a refugee community leader, apparently at the hands of ARSA members.
Local daily Prothom Alo said Ebadullah, 27, had been marshalling refugees to meet with ICC prosecutor Karim A.A. Khan, who visited the camps on Thursday afternoon to record statements from witnesses to the 2017 crackdown in Myanmar.