Villagers living along Bangladesh\u2019s border with conflict-ridden Myanmar are losing limbs to landmines, becoming unintended victims of a war spilling into their forests and farmlands.<\/p>\n
In the dense hill jungles near the border, residents recount harrowing encounters with hidden explosives. One villager described how a routine trip into the forest with others ended in disaster when a sudden blast tore off his leg. Neighbours rushed to stop the bleeding, collected his severed limb, and carried him to hospital.<\/p>\n
In Ashartoli, a small settlement in Bandarban district, the weapons of a foreign conflict have transformed forests, farms, and footpaths into deadly zones. Bangladesh\u2019s 271-kilometre (168-mile) eastern border with Myanmar runs through rivers and thick woodland, much of it unmarked and crossed daily by villagers gathering firewood or engaging in small-scale trade, as their families have done for generations.<\/p>\n
Myanmar is considered the world\u2019s most dangerous country for landmine casualties, according to the International Campaign to Ban Landmines, which has documented a \u201cmassive\u201d and growing use of the banned weapons. The group recorded more than 2,000 casualties in Myanmar in 2024, double the number reported the previous year.<\/p>\n
In its Landmine Monitor<\/em> report, the organization said mine use rose sharply in 2024\u20132025, with a notable increase in victims near the Bangladesh border. Fighters from the Arakan Army, one of several groups opposing Myanmar\u2019s ruling junta, control large stretches of jungle across the frontier.<\/p>\n More than one million Rohingya refugees who fled Myanmar are also living in Bangladesh\u2019s border regions, caught between the military and separatist forces. In November, a Bangladeshi border guard was killed when a landmine blast severed both his legs.<\/p>\n While Bangladesh\u2019s border force has erected warning signs, raised red flags, and conducts regular mine-clearing operations, villagers say such measures offer little protection when survival requires entering forests littered with explosives\u2014leaving border communities to bear the human cost of a war not their own.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Villagers living along Bangladesh\u2019s border with conflict-ridden Myanmar are losing limbs to landmines, becoming unintended victims of a war spilling into their forests and farmlands. In the dense hill jungles near the border, residents recount harrowing encounters with hidden explosives. One villager described how a routine trip into the forest with others ended in disaster …<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":50748,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[26],"tags":[81],"class_list":["post-50747","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-south-asia","tag-headline"],"yoast_head":"\n