At least seven Bawm Christian villagers from the Kuki-Chin tribe that shares kinship with the Mizo community were shot and killed by Bangladesh forces and local militia in Bandarban district of the Chittagong Hill Tracts (CHT) on Good Friday, the militant Kuki-Chin National Army claimed.
Zurvarawng, where the allegedly indiscriminate firing took place, is part of a swathe of the CHT where an estimated 35 lakh people of Kuki-Chin-Mizo stock live. Since last November, over 200 Kuki-Chin refugees from the CHT have fled the ongoing military operation there and taken shelter in south Mizoram’s Lawngtlai district.
Kuki-Chin leader Liana Bawm told TOI over phone that Bangladesh army personnel and armed cadres of the Songskar militia opened fire indiscriminately on the villagers. “The Bangladesh army has been arresting and killing innocent people for several months on the pretext of a crackdown on KNA (Kuki-Chin National Army),” he said.
KNA the armed wing of the KukiChin National Front that is fighting for a separate state for the community in the CHT. The outfit is also known as the “Bawm party”. The “Songskar party” is a splinter group of the Chakma militant outfit called Parbatya Chattagram Jana Samhati Samiti, which claims to be fighting for “reformation” of the regional council.
Zurvarawng, where the allegedly indiscriminate firing took place, is part of a swathe of the CHT where an estimated 35 lakh people of Kuki-Chin-Mizo stock live. Since last November, over 200 Kuki-Chin refugees from the CHT have fled the ongoing military operation there and taken shelter in south Mizoram’s Lawngtlai district.
Kuki-Chin leader Liana Bawm told TOI over phone that Bangladesh army personnel and armed cadres of the Songskar militia opened fire indiscriminately on the villagers. “The Bangladesh army has been arresting and killing innocent people for several months on the pretext of a crackdown on KNA (Kuki-Chin National Army),” he said.
KNA the armed wing of the KukiChin National Front that is fighting for a separate state for the community in the CHT. The outfit is also known as the “Bawm party”. The “Songskar party” is a splinter group of the Chakma militant outfit called Parbatya Chattagram Jana Samhati Samiti, which claims to be fighting for “reformation” of the regional council.