Tension between Bangladesh and Myanmar mounts over Myanmar’s attempt to explore oil and gas in Bay of Bengal; Hundreds flee Myanmar’s border with Thailand to escape renewed fighting between KNU rebels and the soldiers of the breakaway ceasefire group,
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    • Reports noted that tensions between Bangladesh and Myanmar continue to mount as the result of the movement of naval warships from both countries in the Bay of Bengal. The Bangladesh government asserted that it will take all possible measures to protect its territorial sovereignty. Dhaka also accused Yangon of entering its seawaters in order to explore for gas. A Myanmarese exploration vessel escorted by three naval ships had found large natural gas reserves in the Bay of Bengal in areas claimed by Bangladesh. Bangladesh’s Foreign Minister Iftekhar Ahmed Chowdhury told reporters on November 4, that a delegation led by Bangladesh's foreign secretary would fly to Myanmar soon to ease the rising tensions1. Myanmar had reportedly ordered four of its warships to be positioned near the western coast of Sittwe2.

    Meanwhile, reports noted that hundreds of Karen villagers had fled their homes along Myanmar’s border with Thailand to escape renewed fighting between rebels belonging to the Karen National Union (KNU) and the soldiers of the breakaway ceasefire group Democratic Karen Buddhist Army (DKBA) and the Myanmarese government. A spokesman of the Karen National Liberation Army (KNLA), the military wing of the KNU, stated that the DKBA had seized a base of the KNLA’s Battalion 201 in Kawkareik Township after heavy fighting over the weekend. The spokesman added that the attack on the Battalion 201 base was part of a strategy to seize all KNLA bases along the Myanmar-Thai border by 2010, the year the country was scheduled to hold a general election. KNLA sources also indicated that the DKBA had been recruiting soldiers in Pa-an District in southern Karen State since mid-August and had forced villagers to attend military training, in an effort to prepare for an offensive against the KNLA3.

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