Several hundred people whose livelihood depends on border-side forest or agricultural activities are worried as sporadic firings have continued along the Myanmar border near Tambru of Naikhyangchhari in Bandarban and some parts of Cox’s Bazar.

According to Naikhyangchhari upazila nirbahi officer Salma Ferdous, most of the border people depend on forest and agricultural activities for their livelihood but they are not in a position to go on work due to the abnormal situation along border.

Amir Hossain, a farmer at Battali border village of Palangkhali in Cox’s Bazar, said that he could not go to his farmland because of the risky border situation, adding that he has become worried about the livelihood of his family.

Zafar Alam, a resident of another border village Anjumanpara in Ukhia of Cox’s Bazar, said that he was scared of the sounds of firings but he needed to go to his farmland.

Border Guard Bangladesh personnel are also discouraging people to go near the border for safety reasons, he added.

No man’s land Rohingya camp chair Dil Mohammad in Tambru said on Friday evening that they heard sounds of heavy shelling until Jumma prayer, causing panic among the border farmers and people.

A number of no-man’s-land camp families have already moved temporarily to their relatives at Kutupalang camp, he further said.

Ghumdhum union parished chair AKM Jahangir Aziz said that they had a quake-like feeling as shelling goes on inside Myanmar, creating serious tensions among the border people.

Witnesses said that BGB personnel were seen patrolling the border road and adjacent areas.

The Bangladesh government believes that the firings were taking place due to the conflict between the Arakan Army and the Myanmar armed forces.

More than 10,000 people, including about 4,000 Rohingyas on no man’s land near the Tambru border in Naikhyangchari of Bandarban, have been passing their days in panic due to the border situation.

In the latest attack on September 16, at least three mortar shells were fired into Bangladesh from Myanmar between 8:15pm and 9:00pm, killing a 17-year-old adolescent boy, Mohammad Ikbal, and injuring six others, who were hospitalised later in the night.