**The Naf War** was a war fought on 8 January 2000 between the Bangladesh Rifles (now Border Guard Bangladesh ) and the Burma Border Guard.   This battle lasted for three days. The border guards of Bangladesh fought against 2,500 soldiers of the Bangladesh Rifles, two divisions of the Myanmar (then Burma ) army and navy, i.e. 25,000 soldiers. About 600 Burmese soldiers were killed in the war and the war ended with a reconciliation meeting between the two sides.

Background
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In 1966, an agreement was reached between the then governments of Pakistan and Burma during the border settlement. According to the decision of this agreement, the middle part of the present-day Naf River sector is specified as the border of the two countries. The Naf River has twelve tributaries in Myanmar. As per the agreement, the middle part of the Naf River sector was recognized as the international boundary, so Myanmar could not take any action in those sectors, which would cause major changes in the course of the Naf River. But Myanmar ignored the agreement and built dams on eleven out of twelve rivers by 2000. As a result, the main flow of the Naf River shifted towards Bangladesh and about 2,500 acres of land was lost from the territory of Bangladesh. 

In 2000, when Myanmar attempted to build a dam at the last branch, there were several rounds of meetings between the border guards of both countries. When this dam was built, it was feared that the Bangladesh part of the Naf River would break, so that the Teknaf city could disappear, so when the Bangladesh Rifles requested not to build the dam in accordance with the 1966 agreement, the Myanmar border guards sent a letter in rude and unprofessional language. 

> *From NASAKA HQ to BDR HQ Bangladesh.* *We are warning you to behave otherwise we will teach you lessons you will never forget.*</br> *[Nasaka HQ to BDR HQ Bangladesh. We warn you to behave well or else we will teach you a lesson you will never forget.]*
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When diplomatic talks failed, the Bangladesh Rifles decided to stop the dam by using military force.

history
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General Than Shwe summoned foreign journalists and ambassadors stationed in Rangoon on January 9 and announced that—

According to the then Director General of BDR, Major General Alam Fazlur Rahman, he sent different types of ammunition to Cox's Bazar, starting with mortar shells, on the night before the start of the war. He ordered half of this to be deployed at Cox's Bazar, while the rest of the ammunition was sent to the main battlefield. 

The main battle started on January 8, 2000 at 2:30 PM. General Fazlur Rahman was staying in Dinajpur that day as part of a regular border inspection. From there he ordered the start of the operation through a code word called *Bismillah*.  

The battle was organized in the area adjacent to Parrot Island in the Huaikung Union of Teknaf. Here the BDR opened fire in front of a bend in the Naf river. About six hundred Myanmar soldiers and dam construction workers were killed in the ambush. Burmese army gathering and casualties in the war received from intelligence sources. Shortly before the war several spies were sent to Burma to collect information. Information from them shows that 25,000 soldiers of the Burmese regular forces, under a major general and a rear admiral, appeared on the battlefield. Compared to that, Bangladesh's military preparedness was very inadequate (only 2,500 regular soldiers). The then ruling military junta, a council called the State Peace and Development Council, was in charge of the Myanmar government. The chairman of this council, Senior General Than Shwe, was the head of government of Myanmar, the commander-in-chief of the armed forces. 

In terms of military position, the military position of Bangladesh was slightly below the position of Myanmar. However, the Bangladesh Rifles identified ammunition sufficiency as a factor that would determine the outcome of a potential battle. 

> We want Bangladesh and us to discuss and settle the disputed issues together without any preconditions.
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He also sent a letter to Myanmar asking Bangladesh to stop the attack. 

By January 10, the war had subsided due to a unilateral withdrawal from the war. A high-level delegation went to Maungdu, accepting Burma's offer of unconditional talks. The delegation led by the then Joint Secretary (Political) of the Ministry of Home Affairs Zanibul Haque presented Bangladesh's proposals. If no typewriters were provided by Myanmar, a handwritten pledge was signed at the meeting, in which the Myanmar government promised to refrain from any future attempt to build any form of dam on the Naf River.

next
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Although the Naf War was short-lived in terms of its scope and duration, it had a long-term impact. After this war regular conferences were held at the level of the Border Guards. In recognition of victory in the war, the government of the day awarded a gallant copper medal called *Operation Naf Padak* to every soldier who participated in the war. For the first time in Bangladesh, BDR won a single victory in a war without the participation of the army. Also the rarest feat achieved by BDR in Naf War is Zero Mortality. In the three-day fierce battle, more than six hundred people were killed on the Burmese side, but not a single person was killed in the BDR. Only a few were shot and injured.  

1. ↑  "মিয়ানমার-বাংলাদেশ সীমান্তে দক্ষিণ-পূর্ব এশিয়ার অস্ত্র ও গ্যাসপ্রবাহ"। প্রথম আলো। উদ্ধৃতি টেমপ্লেট ইংরেজি প্যারামিটার ব্যবহার করেছে (link)
2. ↑  "বাংলাদেশ মিয়ানমার যুদ্ধ : প্রসঙ্গ ও বাস্তবতা"। *jagonews24.com*। সংগ্রহের তারিখ ২০২২-০৯-০৬। উদ্ধৃতি টেমপ্লেট ইংরেজি প্যারামিটার ব্যবহার করেছে (link)
3. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11  "নাফ যুদ্ধঃ বিডিআরের অসীম সাহসিকতার গল্প"। *আলো.কম.বিডি*। ২৪ জানুয়ারি ২০২১। ২৪ জুন ২০২১ তারিখে মূল থেকে আর্কাইভ করা। সংগ্রহের তারিখ ১৮ জুন ২০২১। উদ্ধৃতি টেমপ্লেট ইংরেজি প্যারামিটার ব্যবহার করেছে (link)
4. 1 2 3 4  "বাঙালি সেনাদের আরেকটি গৌরভ গাঁথা, নাফ যুদ্ধ, বাংলাদেশ বনাম মিয়ানমার, কি হয়েছিলো সে দিন?"। *Online Bangla News* (ইংরেজি ভাষায়)। ২০২১-০২-২১। ২০২২-১০-০২ তারিখে মূল থেকে আর্কাইভ করা। সংগ্রহের তারিখ ২০২২-০৯-০৬। উদ্ধৃতি টেমপ্লেট ইংরেজি প্যারামিটার ব্যবহার করেছে (link)