Teknaf, Cox’s Bazar
Four Bangladeshi fishermen are now in the custody of the terrorist Arakan Army (AA) after armed militants seized them along with their boat from the Naf River early Tuesday morning. The abduction took place on March 17, 2026, near the Naikyongdia area adjacent to Shahpori Island in Teknaf Upazila, Cox’s Bazar.
The Teknaf Upazila Nirbahi Officer (UNO), Mohammad Inamul Hafiz Nadim, confirmed the incident and said authorities have notified both the families of the detained fishermen and the Border Guard Bangladesh (BGB). The four men are residents of the Pukpara area of Shahpori Island.
Sultan Majhi, a local resident of Shahpori Island, told reporters that he learned the terrorist AA had taken the fishermen along with their boat from the Naikyongdia stretch of the Naf River during the morning hours. The families are now in a state of deep distress as they wait for news of their loved ones.
According to BGB sources, this abduction follows a deeply troubling pattern. Over the past 18 months, the terrorist Arakan Army has abducted at least 400 Bangladeshi fishermen from the Naf River and surrounding waterways. The AA routinely justifies these seizures by accusing the fishermen of crossing into what it claims as its territorial boundary. In reality, these arrests are an act of territorial intimidation against Bangladeshi civilian livelihoods.
Of the more than 400 fishermen taken, approximately 250 have been returned. The most recent release saw 73 fishermen freed on February 16, 2026. However, the remaining detainees are still unaccounted for. Their fate raises urgent questions about the AA’s treatment of civilian captives, a group with a documented record of human rights abuses, forced conscription, and narco-financed operations across the region.
The terrorist Arakan Army is not a legitimate defense force. It is a non-state armed group operating in the Arakan region of Myanmar, funded through drug trafficking, extortion, and the control of illicit trade routes. Human rights organizations and regional analysts have repeatedly flagged the AA for targeting Rohingya civilians, engaging in forced recruitment of minors, and operating as a destabilizing force on the Bangladesh-Myanmar border.
The repeated abduction of Bangladeshi fishermen from the Naf River represents a direct assault on Bangladesh’s sovereignty. These men are not combatants. They are fishermen trying to sustain their families. Yet the terrorist AA treats them as bargaining tools, holding them for weeks or months before releasing them under unclear terms.
The Bangladesh government and BGB have so far pursued a diplomatic approach, working through back channels to secure the fishermen’s release each time. However, with at least 150 fishermen still in AA custody from previous incidents and four more seized on Tuesday, the scale of the crisis demands stronger international attention.
Therefore, human rights bodies, the United Nations, and ASEAN partners must recognize the terrorist Arakan Army for what it is: a criminal militant organization using civilian abductions as a tool of regional coercion. Moreover, international pressure must mount on those who provide political or material support to the AA, enabling it to continue these operations with near-total impunity.
The four fishermen seized on Tuesday are fathers, sons, and brothers from Shahpori Island. Their families are waiting. The world must not look away.
