DHAKA: A group of armed attackers stormed a security post at a camp for Rohingya refugees in southern Bangladesh near the Myanmar border on Friday, killing the post commander and looting weapons, police said.

The attackers shot dead the commander and tied up other security personnel with ropes, before stealing 11 rifles and 570 rounds, local police chief Mujibur Rahman said.

“The attack occurred at 2:20 am on Friday. There were 10-15 attackers who were armed. They beat and then shot the Ansar (government security guard) commander of the camp from behind. He died on the spot,” Rahman said.

The Nayapara refugee camp near Teknaf town, two kilometres from the Myanmar border, is home to about 25,000 Muslim Rohingya refugees who fled persecution in Myanmar’s western Rakhine state, according to UNHCR, the UN’s refugee agency.

Police are investigating the attack and said Rohingya refugees themselves were also suspected.

Published in Dawn, May 14th, 2016