Violence erupts in Bangladesh as border guards rebel

The Guardian adds that a problem has been brewing within the border security forces for many months.

Reporters stressed the mutiny was the result of a problem within the security force and was not a coup d'etat.... A revolt has been brewing since BDR paramilitary units first called for "parity" with regular soldiers six months ago.

By mid afternoon on Wednesday, The Daily Star reported that the mutiny had spread to near Chittagong, Bangladesh's port city in the south.

BDR soldiers took control over Goalkhali BDR camp in Khulna after the revolt by their colleagues at the Bangladesh Rifles Headquarters in Dhaka, triggering tensions through the southern city.

Sources inside the camp said the BDR jawans shut down the main entrance of the outpost at about 11:00 am as the news of the mutiny at their headquarters travelled in fast.

They said eight army officials in command of the camp went away hurriedly as the soldiers started moving around the camp.

The Daily Star adds that a team of negotiators reached the prime minister's office in the afternoon.

They went to Jamuna with state minister Jahangir Kabir Nanak and parliament whip Mirza Azam shortly after 3:45 pm.

Nanak and Azam were sent by the prime minister to the BDR headquarters for talks in a bid to calm down the situation that erupted in the morning following some demands of the BDR soldiers.

Mutinous BDR members earlier said they would call a ceasefire after holding talks with Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina and Home Minister Sahara Khatun.

The New York Times reports: "What impact Wednesday's clashes will have on a still fragile civilian government depends on how quickly it is put down and how the mutinous troops are dealt with."

"I don't think it's a serious threat to the stability of the state, but it's certainly a serious threat to the security forces and their standing, their place in the structure of the state," said A.N.M. Muniruzzman, a retired army major general who now heads the Bangladesh Institute of Peace and Security Studies in Dhaka. "This is a fragile time, and this could be a very destabilizing factor."

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