4 Bangladeshi ethnic armed group members killed, 3 missing

DHAKA, Bangladesh

At least four members of an ethnic armed group in the remote southeastern Khagrachari hill district of Bangladesh were killed late Monday by rival groups concerning establishing supremacy, according to officials.

“We found the dead body in the morning and informed the police,” Panchhari town chairman Chandra Deb Chakma confirmed to Anadolu.

Details will be known after a police investigation, he said, adding that the killing took place in the Anil Para area of Panchhari town.

Three other members of the group are missing, according to the Dhaka Tribune newspaper, citing police.

United People's Democratic Front is a Chattogram Hill Tracts-based regional political party founded in 1998 that wants to establish full autonomy in the hilly area. But it has divided factions that want to control power in the region.

The armed attack occurred while the country’s opposition Bangladesh Nationalist Party and allies started a 36-hour nationwide blockade Tuesday demanding the cancellation of the national election schedule on Jan. 7 and a caretaker government to hold the election.