Myanmar rebels 'kidnap' 10 Bangladeshi fishermen: Official

DHAKA, Bangladesh

Myanmar rebel group Arakan Army has allegedly kidnapped 10 Bangladeshi fishermen from the country’s southeastern Ukhiya border with Myanmar, officials said Thursday.

“The fishermen were kidnapped from the Palangkhali Union (rural council) of Ukhiya sub-district while they were fishing at a channel of the transboundary Naf River on the border,” M. Gafuruddin Chowdhury, chairman of the rural council, told Anadolu.

"Arakan Army controls the border area in question after overrunning Myanmar border police, who fled to Bangladesh,” a Palangkhali Union official added.

Talks with the rebels continue to rescue the Bangladeshi victims, said the official, adding: “Since the abduction occurred in the border area, it was reported to Bangladesh border forces and the highest level to rescue them."

Earlier, Bangladesh returned 618 Myanmar soldiers and other officials who crossed the border to seek refuge in the neighboring country amid a conflict between the Myanmar military and rebel groups in the junta-ruled country.

Myanmar border police began fleeing to Bangladesh this February as the conflict escalated between junta forces and the Arakan Army as well as other insurgent groups in the Southeast Asian nation.

The conflict has also pushed persecuted Rohingya Muslims to attempt crossing into Bangladesh’s Cox's Bazar district, where some 1.2 million Rohingya refugees already live since fleeing a crackdown by Myanmar's security forces in August 2017.