Border Guard Bangladesh (BGB) thwarted yet another attempt by the Indian Border Security Force (BSF) to construct a barbed wire fence along the Panchbibi border in Joypurhat. The incident occurred early Saturday around 5:30 am in the Sonatala border area under the jurisdiction of the Hatkhola BOP camp. Lt Col Mohammad Nahid Newaz, commander of Joypurhat-20 BGB Battalion, confirmed the matter. International law prohibits any construction within 150 yards of the border. Despite this, BSF personnel began erecting a temporary barbed wire fence using bamboo poles approximately 20 yards inside Indian territory, near the third and fourth sub-pillars of main pillar 280, according to BGB sources and local residents. 7 held while trying to enter India through Dinajpur border Local residents alerted the BGB patrol team, who arrived at the scene to intervene. The BGB’s action forced the BSF to halt their construction efforts, ensuring the integrity of the border remained intact. In a related development, a flag meeting was held on Saturday evening between the BGB and the BSF. Under the leadership of Naik Subedar Naeemul Islam, company commander of Koya BOP, and AC Ankur, company commander of the 137 Battalion BSF, both sides discussed the ongoing issue of border construction. The BSF commander assured the BGB that there would be no further attempts to construct the barbed wire fence outside areas allowed under international law. On October 17, BSF members had made two attempts to build a barbed wire fence using iron poles in the same area, but their efforts were similarly obstructed by BGB personnel. Following those incidents, a protest letter was sent by Joypurhat Battalion-20 BGB to the commander of the 137 Battalion BSF.

Members of Border Guard Bangladesh (BGB) detained six Bangladeshis including three of a family while allegedly trying to trespass into India through the border in Panchagarh on Thursday night. The detainees are Ganesh Roy, 43, his wife Babita Roy, 36, their son Drisha Roy, 10, Debendra Roy, 22, Joyanta Roy, 19, and Ripon Roy, 19. All the detainees hailed from several areas under Birganj upazila of Dinajpur. According to a media release sent from the BGB-56 in Nilphamari under Thakurgaon sector, a team of the frontier force conducted a drive in bordering Goalpara area under Panchagarh Sadar upazila at night after being informed that some Bangladeshis were trying to intrude into India with the help of brokers. Later they were detained. Read: 16 Bangladeshi fishermen retuned to BGB from Arakan Army custody During the primary interrogation, the detainees admitted they gave Tk one lakh in cash to brokers to help them go to India, according to the release. The detainees were handed over to the relevant police station to take legal actions against them, it said. Lt. Col Sheikh Mohammad Badruzzaman, commandant of the BGB-56 battalion, said they are vigilant to curb intrusion into India.

Members of Border Guard Bangladesh (BGB) detained two Bangladeshi citizens while allegedly trying to trespass into India through the border in Biral upazila of Dinajpur early Friday. The detainees are Magnet Roy, 25, son of Rama Roy of Dinajpur’s Bochaganj and Likhan Roy, 19, son of Profulla Roy, of Palashbaria area under Nilphamari Sadar upazila. Read: BGB detains 5 people while trying to enter India illegally thru Dinajpur border Ahsan-ul-Islam, commandant of the BGB-42 in Dinajpur, said they detained the two from Nonagram area under Bhandara union of the Biral upazila along the border with India after being tipped-off that some Bangladeshis were intruding into India. The detainees were handed over to the concerned police station to take legal action in this regard, he added. Read more: BGB detains local AL leader, his brother from Sylhet border

Members of the Border Guard Bangladesh (BGB) claimed to have detained a person with 45 gold bars along the India border in the district on Tuesday. Md Azizur Rahman, 58, is from Durgapur village under Aditmari upazila in the district, according to a press release signed by BGB-15 Commandant Lieutenant Colonel Mofazzal Hossain Akanda. The battalion received a tip that a big consignment of gold was going to be smuggled to India through Kutichar border area under the Aditmari upazila. As per the information, BGB men took up positions along the border and eventually challenged a person heading towards the border. But instead of cooperating, this man, who would turn out to be Azizur, tried to run away, and BGB gave chase. Read more: BGB detains woman with gold worth over Tk 8 million in Benapole The BGB personnel eventually detained Azizur and recovered the gold weighing around 5.249 kilograms from his body. The market value of the gold is estimated to be around Tk 4.5 crore. The gold bars were wrapped with cloth and tape.   Later, the detainee was handed over to the concerned police station where a process was underway to file a case in this connection, the BGB release added. Later, the detainee was handed over to the concerned police station where a process was underway to file a case in this connection, the BGB release added.

Hong Kong’s leader said Saturday that China has agreed to a reopening of the city’s border with the mainland, which has been largely closed by pandemic restrictions, and that he is aiming for a mid-January start. Chief Executive John Lee, returning from a trip to Beijing where he met President Xi Jinping and other officials, told reporters at the Hong Kong airport that the two sides would develop a plan to reopen the border in a gradual and orderly manner. The announcement came as China is easing a “zero-COVID” policy that has restricted entry to the country, isolated infected people and locked down areas with outbreaks. Hong Kong is a semi-autonomous Chinese territory that borders Guangdong province in southeast China. People must pass through immigration to cross between the two, and most land and sea entry points have been closed and controls tightened because of the pandemic. Read more: Thousands flee Hong Kong for UK, fearing China crackdown Lee has made a full reopening of the border a priority to boost the city’s flagging economy. The issue was one of several on his agenda for this week’s trip to Beijing to deliver an annual report to the central government, his first such report since taking office on July 1. He offered no details on how the border might be reopened, and whether it would include an elimination of the five days of hotel quarantine required for people entering mainland China.  

Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina today asked BGB personnel to continue performing their responsibilities with utmost sincerity, including protecting the borders; combating smuggling, drug trade, human trafficking, inter-border crimes; and providing security to the lives and property of the people living in the bordering areas. She also extended her thanks to the BGB members as they have been fulfilling their responsibilities with competence. The premier was addressing the parade of Border Guard Bangladesh (BGB) Day-2022 at its headquarters in Dhaka. Read more: Nation never wants a repeat of Feb 2009 tragedy: PM to BGB personnel The PM said the border guards played a responsible role during the peaceful exchange of enclaves between Bangladesh and India. “We set an example for the world by exchanging enclaves amid a festive atmosphere,” she said. During the Rohingya influx into Bangladesh, BGB also carried out their responsibilities with efficiency, including the registration of the displaced people, she added. Focusing on the modernisation of BGB during her regime, Sheikh Hasina said the Awami League government has carried out massive development works and enacted a new law in order to enhance the capacity of the force under the BGB reform initiative. “BGB got the organizational shape of an efficient, strong, modern three-dimensional force,” she said, adding that now BGB is capable of performing its duty on land, water and air. The PM said her government has adopted the 'Border Guard Bangladesh Vision-2041' in a bid to develop the BGB as a world-class border guard force. Read more: Boost food production to avert any crisis: PM Hasina The 'Smart Digital Surveillance and Tactical Border Response System' has been installed at vulnerable border areas for seamless surveillance and countering trans-border terrorism, she said. Thanks to addition of the advanced and up-to-date weapons and equipment to the BGB, its operational capacity and competence has been enhanced, she noted. The PM said the present government has taken a plan to construct a total of 1,036 km of border roads with an aim of increasing the security of the hilly border areas and uplifting the socio-economic condition of the people living in the remote areas. The construction of 317 km border road in the first phase is in progress, she informed. The premier thanked the BGB for removing the words “Pak” or “Pakistan” from 14,005 border pillars on Bangladesh-India border and writing “Bangladesh” or “BD” in their places.

Seven suspected cartel gunmen and one soldier were killed in a shootout Wednesday between the army and gang members in the northern Mexico border city of Nuevo Laredo, authorities said. The shootings were the second time in as many weeks that large-scale violence has hit Nuevo Laredo, across the border from Laredo, Texas. Police in the border state of Tamaulipas said military personnel were attacked and one soldeier was killed and seven were wounded. Seven presumed attackers also died, police said. The shootout took place on a roadway about 3 miles (5 kilometers) from the U.S. border. State police said there had been “risk situations” — usually a reference to gunfire — at several points in the city, but that the outbreaks had been controlled. In late November, gunfire in Nuevo Laredo forced the cancellation of school classes and an advisory from the U.S. Consulate to shelter in place. Also read: 15-year-old boy killed five people in a shooting spree in Raleigh: Police President Andrés Manuel López Obrador said the shootings in November came in response to the arrest of a cartel leader, but did not elaborate. The city has long been dominated by the Northeast cartel, an offshoot of the old Zetas gang. The U.S. Consulate in Nuevo Laredo cancelled visa appointments Wednesday.  

Bangladesh and India on Tuesday reiterated their commitment to further deepen and strengthen mutual cooperation in the security and border related issues. The outcome came as the 18th meeting of the Joint Working Group (JWG) on security and border management between Bangladesh and India was held on December 5-6, according to a media statement issued by the Indian Ministry of Home Affairs. The Indian delegation was led by Piyush Goyal, Additional Secretary, Indian Ministry of Home Affairs while Bangladesh delegation was led by AK Mukhlesur Rahman, Additional Secretary, Ministry of Home Affairs. Union Home Minister Amit Shah had met the Home Minister Asaduzzaman Khan on November 18 on the sidelines of the ‘No Money For Terror’ Conference in New Delhi. Both sides had productive exchanges on border management and common security related issues during that meeting. Following on from the meeting between the two ministers last month, at Tuesday’s meeting both sides highlighted the excellent bilateral relations between the two countries and reiterated their commitment to further deepen mutual cooperation. Read more: Dhaka, Delhi "committed to further enhance" bilateral military ties The Bangladesh side recalled the Indian contribution during the Liberation War of Bangladesh in 1971. Bilateral issues such as border fencing and developmental works within 150 yards of the international border, illegal crossing, bilateral cooperation in checking insurgency, combating terrorism, organised crimes and smuggling were also discussed in the meeting. Read more: Dhaka, Delhi eye more achievements through joint efforts with solid stability

Bangladeshi and Indian border guards will patrol vulnerable border points jointly while they will take additional precautionary measures to lower the number of casualties, officials said Thursday. In a meeting, they also decided to reduce the number of injuries and stop assaulting unarmed citizens. The decision was taken during a four-day regional border conference between Border Guard Bangladesh (BGB) and Indian Border Security Force (BSF) that ended in Kolkata on Wednesday. The frontier conference between the BGB Regional Commanders (Rangpur and Jessore Region) and Frontier Inspector Generals (South Bengal, North Bengal and Guwahati Frontier) of BSF began on November 13. Read more: BGB-BSF DG-level border conference begins in Dhaka Commander of BGB’s North-West region, Rangpur, Brigadier General A B M Nowroj Ehsan had led an 11-member Bangladesh delegation, while BSF South Bengal Frontier Inspector General Dr. Atul Fulzele had led a 12-member Indian delegation in the conference. During the conference, BSF South Bengal Frontier Inspector General Dr. Atul Fulzele referred to the existing cordial relationship between the two border guarding forces and emphasised on the joint efforts of both forces to implement an effective 'Integrated Border Management Plan (CBMP)'. Brig Gen Ehsan highlighted the importance of following the Joint India-Bangladesh Guidelines-1975 and effectively implementing the CBMP to resolve the border issues and also cited the role of both the border guarding forces in maintaining peace and order along the border. Read more: BGB-BSF border conference underway in Jashore During the conference, both sides agreed that increased joint patrolling by BGB and BSF will prevent smuggling along the border. They also decided to exchange information between the two forces immediately to take effective action against those involved and apprehended in order to eliminate various types of cross-border crimes, especially smugglings of yaba, phensidyl, various types of drugs, narcotic tablets, gold, arms and cattle.  

In the face of continuous gunfire and mortar shelling inside Myanmar close to the Bangladesh border for six hours on Saturday, local authorities have evacuated 30 families in Dochari and Ghumdhum unions of Bandarban's Naikhongchhari upazila.  The sound and fury on the Myanmar side of the international border, where the Myanmar army is engaged in fighting a well-resourced insurgency forged by the Arakan Army, started again today, after a week's lull. Firing resumed on the Myanmar side of Bangladesh's border – from Dochari to Ghumdhum union – at 1pm and continued till 6:30pm, gripping the locals with fear. Gunshots and explosions have often been heard in the border areas for a few months as the country's military has clashed with separatist groups.  Md Rahman, a local of Dochari union's Jamchhari, said the Arakan Army, an ethnic armed organisation based in Rakhine state, had stopped taking up positions near the border for a long time, instead operating deep inside Myanmar. "But over the past week, the Arakan Army has positioned itself closer to the border." Naikhongchhari Sadar union parishad chairman Nurul Absar Imon, who is now in Jamchhari, said: "For several days, there was no firing in the area but it suddenly started again at 1pm today and continued till 6:30pm, sending a panic wave among the locals." "At least 15 rounds of stray bullets from Myanmar landed in Bangladesh. Thirty families whose houses are too close to the border were evacuated to safety amid heavy shelling and firing inside Myanmar. And there was no casualty inside Bangladesh," Imon added.