4 killed in clashes in Ukhia’s Rohingya refugee camp

At least four people were killed in sporadic clashes which broke out between two groups of Rohingyas in Ukhia of Cox's Bazar this evening.

The clashes came hours after a team of Rapid Action Battalion (Rab) arrested nine Rohingya men with firearms from the hills adjacent to Hoykyang Chakmarkul Rohingya camp in Teknaf, sources said.

Chases, counter-chases and gunfights took place between the two factions at Block-C in the camp in Kutupalong, reports our Cox's Bazar correspondent.

At one stage, the clashes spread to three to four other camps in the area and continued till filing of this report around 9:15pm.

Sources in the camp say the two groups have had a long-standing feud among them.

Additional Refugee Relief and Repatriation Commissioner Shamsuddoza told The Daily Star that at least four people were killed in the clashes.

Ahmed Sanjur Morshed, officer-in-charge of Ukhia Police Station, told The Daily Star that they recovered four bodies from the camp.

The clashes began as one group blamed the other for helping Rab members make the arrests of the nine, said Hafez Jalal Ahmed, chairman of Kutupalong Rohingya registered camp.

Besides, two Rohingya men were killed and some others injured in a gunfight between the factions over establishing supremacy in the area two days back. One of the injured died yesterday.

Today's clash may also have been a result of that, Ahmed said.