COX’S BAZAR: Nine Rohingya went missing on Friday after a boat carrying them capsized in Naf, a shared waterway between Bangladesh and Myanmar.

The Rohingya were believed to be fleeing ongoing fighting in Myanmar’s Rakhine state between the military and the Arakan Army, an ethnic minority rebel group.

Bangladeshi fishermen rescued 18 men after they spotted the sinking boat. The men were turned over to Bangladesh’s Border Guard agency.

“Some nine individuals are still missing,” Saiful Islam, the police officer in charge of Teknaf district, said.

Rashid Ahmed, a local resident, said the boat lost control and sank due to strong currents.

“Nearby trawlers rushed to the spot and rescued people from the sinking boat. Of the 18 rescued, four were boatmen and their associates,” Ahmed said.

The mostly Muslim Rohingya have been persecuted in Myanmar for decades, with many escaping to Bangladesh after the 2017 clampdown.

Conditions in Rakhine state, a slice of coastal Myanmar bordering Bangladesh, have deteriorated during Myanmar’s civil war.

Published in Dawn, August 1st, 2026