India to tell Bangladesh to halt border firings

INDIA: A top commander of Indian frontier forces said he would personally talk with his Bangladeshi counterparts to put a halt to frequent exchanges of gunfire along their common borders.

The announcement came as India's Border Security Force (BSF) said Bangladeshi paramilitary troops had shot dead three Indian workers and injured four others.

"Firing along India-Bangladesh border has been a very irritant issue and I will take up the issue with Bangladesh," BSF Director-General Ashis Kumar Mitra said.

"In most cases Indian border guards open fire only in retaliation," he said in Kolkata, capital of India's West Bengal state which shares an uneasy border with Bangladesh.

The incident comes a week after a trip to India by Bangladeshi Prime Minister Khaleda Zia. Her trip was aimed at boosting relations between the neighbours whose ties have been soured by the border clashes and civilian killings.

Around 100 workers were repairing a road 150 yards (140 metres) from the so-called border "zero-point" when Bangladeshi troops "intruded" into Indian territory and asked the Indians to stop working, BSF deputy chief S.S. Sandhu said.

"When the workers refused, Bangladeshi guards fired indiscriminately, killing two workers on the spot while one succumbed to injuries Tuesday," he said.

Four others were seriously wounded, Sandhu added.

Bangladeshi officials were not immediately available for comment.

The firing occurred at Jamaldah Balapukri village in Cooch Behar district, 600 kilometers (370 miles) north of Kolkata. The Bangladeshi troops dragged the bodies of two Indians into their territory, but returned them later to border officials, another BSF official said.

The neighbours share a 4,000-kilometre (2,500-mile) porous border. India accuses Bangladesh of pushing illegal migrants across the border and harbouring insurgents fighting Indian rule in its northeast - charges rejected by Dhaka.

Sixteen Indian and three Bangladeshi soldiers were killed in 2001 in the deadliest border clash between the two sides.

KOLKATA, Thursday, AFP