In a devastating incident, three members of a family, including a 13-year-old girl, were shot dead early Monday morning in a Rohingya refugee camp in Ukhiya, Cox’s Bazar. The victims were identified as Ahmad Hossain (60), his son Syedul Amin (28), and his daughter Asma (13).
According to Mohammad Iqbal, commander of the 14th Armed Police Battalion (APBn), an armed group of Rohingya assailants stormed into the family’s shelter in the 20th extension area of the camp. “Hearing the commotion, Asma woke up crying. The attackers shot her to silence her cries,” said the APBn official. Afterward, the gunmen fatally shot her father Syedul Amin and grandfather Ahmad Hossain before fleeing the scene.
Ahmad Hossain and his son died instantly, while Asma, critically injured, was rushed to a hospital where she succumbed to her injuries during treatment.
Police sources revealed that the attack was motivated by an ongoing territorial feud between rival Rohingya criminal groups. Syedul Amin was reportedly a commander of one faction, and the assailants belonged to a rival group. Fearing for their lives, the family had recently fled from Camp 17 to the extension area to avoid threats from the same group.
The Ukhiya police confirmed that the attack was part of a broader struggle over control within the camps. Authorities have recovered the bodies and sent them to the district hospital for autopsy, while further investigations into the incident are ongoing.
This latest violence underscores the ongoing security challenges in the crowded refugee camps, where criminal activities and rivalries continue to endanger lives.
