Bangladesh anger over Myanmar army build-up

Bangladesh has told neighbouring Myanmar to pull back its troops from their shared border, where thousands of Rohingya refugees have sheltered.

More than 5,000 people have been living on a narrow strip of land between the two countries since some 700,000 Rohingya fled the burning of their homes in Myanmar last year.

On Thursday, a large number of Myanmar soldiers appeared at the border fence.

Bangladesh has summoned the Myanmar ambassador over the situation.

Rohingya refugees fled their homes in Rakhine late last year, amid what the Myanmar government said was a military crackdown on militant groups. But reports quickly emerged of widespread human rights violations, killings, and the burning of civilian villages.

More than 5,000, however, set up camp on the narrow strip of land just beyond the Myanmar border fence.

The area is formally still within the country's territory, but is widely referred to as a "no man's land".

On Thursday, differing reports said 100-200 soldiers had appeared near the makeshift border camp. Machine guns and mortars were also spotted, border guards told reporters.

Source: bbc