By Takaloo, Maungdaw: The Burmese military junta has recently sent more troops from army and police forces to work on constructing the fence at the Bangladesh-Burma border, reportedly undercover of border-guard uniforms to avoid tensions with neighboring Bangladesh.

"Nearly 2,000 troops from army and police forces have arrived here for working on the border fence since last week, and all of them are being ordered to wear Nasaka's uniform so as to avoid tension with Bangladesh," said a source close to the Burmese border force Nasaka.

The source said that recently recruited troops were being brought from Light Infantry Battalions 374 and 375 of Kyauktaw, LIB 536 and LIB 537 of Rathidaung, LIB 565 and LIB 564 of Buthidaung, as well as police from Battalion No. 13 in Buthidaung and Battalion No. 2 in Maungdaw of western Burma's Arakan State.

More than 3,000 troops combined from the army, Nasaka, police, and army engineers are currently working on the construction of the border fence in western Burma, but all are wearing Nasaka uniforms, said the source.

They added that the personnel who are in uniform with a badge of "BIHQ" above the left pocked are genuine Nasaka officers, while those wearing the uniform without the badge are from other forces.

There has been tension between Burma and Bangladesh since Burma started construction on the border fence early this year, with the stated aim of warding off smuggling and trafficking across the open border between the two countries.

Last October, when the Burmese regime had resumed construction of the fence after the rainy season, Bangladesh border force, Bangladesh Rifles, alerted its forces and objected to the movement of Burmese soldiers along the border. There were no clashes between the forces, but arrests and push-backs of undocumented Burmese migrants and unrecognized refugees increased on the Bangladesh side.

"With the reinforcement of workforces, 40-miles of barbed wire fence stretching from Latera Village to Aundun Village in Maungdaw Township will be completed in early 2010," said the source. They added that the pillars for the fence have already been erected and they are currently putting up the barbed wire. So far about 10 miles of fencing have been completed.

There are also plans to build slope embankments along the Naff River to protect the fence from erosion, as well as a 12-feet wide road adjacent to the fence for security patrols, according to the source.

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