Firing at Bangladesh-Myanmar border gets one wounded, another held captive

Dhaka

 A firing between Bangladeshi and Myanmar border guards which occurred due to a misunderstanding got one of the Bangladeshi border guard wounded and another held captive by Myanmar, paramilitary officers and witnesses said.

 The local director of operations for Border Guard Bangladesh, Ekram Khan, said the shoot-out was "the outcome of a total misunderstanding"

 One sustained multiple bullet wounds during the clash in Bangladesh's south-eastern district of Cox's Bazar.

 "Our soldiers started firing in retaliation and private Biplob Kumar sustained injuries to his head and right hand," said Abu Russell Siddiki, a spokesman for the Bangladesh force.

Another Bangladeshi border guard, Abdur Razzak, was taken by Myanmar Border Guard Police to a border force camp.

 Local fishermen said a Bangladeshi patrol boat on the Naf river which divides the two countries came under fire from Myanmar border guards, who had apparently mistaken them for smugglers.

 The area where the shoot-out occurred is notorious for people smuggling between the two countries, which have come under the spotlight over a migrant crisis in recent weeks. But clashes between border forces are rare.