# Naf War

The Naf War was a rumoured military clash that occurred either on 1 January 2000 or 8 January 2000 or on 8 January 2001 between the Bangladesh Rifles (now Border Guard Bangladesh) and Myanmar's border security forces. In the 1990s, there were frequent clashes along the border, including with separatists like the Rohingya Solidarity Organisation (RSO) where landmines caused deaths to personnel from Bangladesh and Myanmar, including 11 guards, 35 Bangladeshi loggers and 22 elephants. Tensions over the demarcation of the Naf River rose leading to boundary agreements made in 1998 with the final disagreements over control of a canal ceded by Myanmar in April 2000. Then in 2001, a joint survey commission was formed after a clash over a construction of a dam. According to Major Rashid, there is "no truth" to the fact that there was war between Bangladesh and Myanmar called the Naf War stating that General Fazlur Rahman had falsely claimed to have led a war where he killed 600 opponents with no casualties. Jago News Current Affairs Editor Tanveer Ahmed explains that the clash in 2000 was one of three clashes between Bangladesh and Myanmar including two others of similar proportions in 1998 and 2005.
The conflict lasted three days. The Bangladesh Rifles deployed 2,500 personnel, while Myanmar deployed its Border Guard Forces (nasaka) with artillery. Neutral reports from the time indicated that only 25 warning shots were fired and that it occurred in 2001.

## Background

In 1966, during border demarcation negotiations, the then governments of Pakistan and Burma reached an agreement. According to the terms of this agreement, the central channel of the contemporary Naf River was designated as the boundary between the two countries. On Myanmar's side, the Naf River has twelve tributaries. As per the agreement, since the midpoint of the Naf River's channel was established as the international boundary, Myanmar was prohibited from undertaking any measures in those tributaries that could significantly alter the course of the Naf River. However, disregarding this agreement, Myanmar constructed dams on eleven out of the twelve tributaries by the year 2000. As a result, the primary flow of the Naf River shifted toward Bangladesh, causing approximately 2,500 acres of land to be lost from Bangladesh's territory.
Prior to the tensions, the Burmese ambassador was summoned to explain the dam to which the ambassador stated that local villagers had started construction without the involvement of Burmese authorities.
According to General Fazlur Rahman on a talk show, in 2000, when Myanmar initiated plans to construct a dam on the last undammed tributary of the Naf on the Myanmar side, several rounds of meetings were held between the border guards of both countries. It was feared that this dam could lead to erosion on the Bangladeshi side of the Naf River, potentially causing the disappearance of Teknaf town. Therefore, Bangladesh Rifles urged Myanmar not to construct the dam in accordance with the 1966 agreement. However, the Myanmar border guards responded with a letter in an inappropriate and unprofessional tone:
   From NASAKA HQ to BDR HQ Bangladesh. We are warning you to behave otherwise we will teach you lessons you will never forget.
When diplomatic discussions failed, Bangladesh Rifles decided to prevent the dam's construction through military means.
From a military positioning standpoint, Bangladesh's military position was slightly lower than that of Myanmar. However, the Bangladesh Rifles identified ammunition supplies as a key factor in determining the potential outcome of the war.
Then BDR Director General Major General A. L. M. Fazlur Rahman allgeges to have sent approximately twenty-five lakh rounds of ammunition to Cox's Bazar the night before the war started, ranging from mortar shells to various types of ammunition. Half of these were ordered to be stationed in Cox's Bazar, while the rest were sent to the main battlefield.

## Battle

According to General Fazlur Rahman, General Fazlur Rahman gave the order to attack at 12:00PM on January 1, 2000, and took control of the war before the Myanmar Army could respond.
According to a now-retracted article from Online Bangla News, the battle began on January 8, 2000, at 2:30 PM. On that day, General Fazlur Rahman was stationed in Dinajpur as part of his regular border inspection. From there, he initiated the operation by giving the command to start with the code word "Bismillah."
According to General Fazlur Rahman, the battle took place in the Whykong Union of Teknaf, near the island of Totar. The first shots were fired by the BDR in front of a bend in the Naf River. In the sudden attack, around six hundred soldiers from Myanmar, along with workers constructing a dam, were killed, as General Rahman claimed in a TV talk show interview citing reports of the Burmese military gathering and casualties to intelligence sources that had allegedly been sent to Burma for information gathering. Rahman alleges that 25,000 soldiers of the Burmese regular army, under the command of a Major General and a Rear Admiral, were present on the battlefield. In contrast, Bangladesh's military preparations were very inadequate, with only 2,500 regular soldiers.
According to Bangladeshi Retired Major Rashid, the Myanmar Army there was as clash in the year 2000 as well as clashes in 1998 and 2005 along the Naf River with potential casaulties on the Myanmar side across those three clashes. The 2000 clash is not unique, nor is it a war. He described General Fazlur Rahman's claims as a "sudden" claim that goes against the general principles of the Bangladesh Army- which is to prevent esclatory retaliations that would harm the Bangaldeshi public or the state economy.

## Ceasefire

According to General Rahman, on January 9, Senior General Than Shwe, the head of Myanmar's government and supreme commander of the armed forces, summoned foreign journalists and ambassadors stationed in Rangoon and declared:
   We want Bangladesh and Myanmar to sit together without any preconditions and resolve the disputed issues.
He also sent a letter to Bangladesh, requesting the cessation of hostilities.
However, other news reports from 2001 only indicate that Bangladeshi troops in the area had been put on high alert, citing Teknaf-based commander Rafiqur Rahman of the Bangladesh Border Force. Tensions escalated into a clash with exchanged gunfire on 8 January 2001, which ended quickly after a flag meeting between field commanders where Burmese authorities suspended the construction of the dam. According to General Fazlur Rahman, the Myanmar army instead unilaterally withdrew on 10 January from the war. Accepting Myanmar's unconditional proposal for talks, a high-level delegation traveled to Mongdu. The delegation, led by the then Joint Secretary (Political) of the Ministry of Home Affairs, Janibul Haque, presented Bangladesh's proposals. As Myanmar failed to provide any typewriter, a handwritten memorandum was signed at the meeting, in which the Myanmar government promised to refrain from any attempt to construct a dam on the Naf River in the future.

## Aftermath

In terms of the extent and duration of the war, the Naf War was short-lived, but General Fazlur Rahman claims it has a long-lasting impact. After this war, regular meetings began to be held at the border guard forces' level. In recognition of the victory in the war, he alleges that the government awarded every soldier who participated in the war with a gallantry bronze medal called the "Operation Naf Medal." This was the first time in Bangladesh's history that a single victory was achieved in a war without the participation of the BDR army. According to Bangladeshi Retired Major Rashid, the Naf War has no truth to it and that "no country has fought a war with Bangladesh since 1971" emphasising that Bangladesh maintained good relations strategically.

## See more

* 2001 Bangladesh–India border clashes
* 2008 Bangladesh–Myanmar naval standoff
* 2015 Bangladesh–Arakan Army border clash