A series of killings, shootings and armed confrontations since May has raised concern that an informal truce among Rohingya armed groups is weakening, after violence declined sharply during 2025.
by RK Desk
Cox’s Bazar, 7 September 2026: A renewed series of shootings, killings and armed confrontations is raising fears among Rohingya refugees that violence is again increasing inside the camps after more than a year of relative decline.
According to Armed Police Battalion data reported by The Daily Star, at least 74 people were killed in the camps in 2023 and 62 in 2024. The number fell to 22 in 2025, while 19 killings were recorded during the first seven months of 2026.
The recent escalation has been linked by camp residents and security officials to renewed rivalry among armed Rohingya groups following the killing of Kefayatullah Halim, a commander of the Arakan Rohingya Organisation (ARO), on 5 May.
The following day, Mohammad Kamal, the younger brother of Arakan Rohingya Army leader Nabi Hossain, was shot dead in Camp 8. Police and community sources reported increased tensions between rival groups following the two killings.
The violence has continued through subsequent months.
On 27 August, a six-year-old boy and his mother were wounded during a nearly two-hour gunfight between armed groups in Camp 8 East, according to reporting by The Daily Star. The boy was shot in the head while in his mother’s arms, while his mother sustained a gunshot wound to the abdomen.
Other incidents have also been reported in Camps 3, 5 and 14 in recent weeks.
The renewed violence follows an informal agreement reached among several Rohingya armed groups in November 2024, commonly referred to as “Mission Harmony.”
The International Crisis Group previously reported that the agreement significantly reduced armed-group violence inside the camps for several months. The understanding involved the Arakan Rohingya Salvation Army, Rohingya Solidarity Organisation, Arakan Rohingya Army and Rohingya Islamic Mahaz.
Camp residents now fear that the arrangement is weakening.
“Gunshots are heard almost every night from different camps,” Mohammad Solim, a resident of Camp 8 East, told The Daily Star. “We are living in fear.”
Kidnapping Remains a Major Threat
Kidnapping has remained a serious security problem even during periods when killings declined.
APBn data cited by The Daily Star shows that 787 kidnapping incidents involving 935 victims have been recorded since 2021, while only 99 police cases were formally filed.
Around 70 abductions were reported during the first three months of 2026.
Families often pay ransoms without reporting cases to law enforcement, according to a UN official quoted by the newspaper, suggesting that the actual number of kidnappings may be higher than official records show.
Funding Cuts Add to Insecurity
The renewed security concerns come as humanitarian funding shortages continue to affect food, healthcare, education and livelihood opportunities inside the camps.
Refugee Relief and Repatriation Commissioner Mohammed Mizanur Rahman told The Daily Star that declining funding has also reduced paid volunteer opportunities for Rohingya refugees.
He said petty theft, disputes and trafficking were increasing as economic pressures inside the camps worsened.
However, Additional Deputy Inspector General Siraj Amin, commander of 14 APBn, said that while the situation had deteriorated somewhat since May, overall law and order remained better than in previous years.
For Rohingya residents, the decline in violence during 2025 had offered a period of relative relief. The recent shootings and killings are now reviving fears that armed rivalry could again make daily life inside the camps more dangerous.
