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CHITTAGONG, Bangladesh - Bangladesh has reinforced its border with Myanmar, sending 3,000 extra troops to the area, military officials said Friday, amid new tensions over a disputed stretch of gas-rich sea.
Bangladesh announced last weekend it had gone on high alert over reports Myanmar had boosted troops along its border with Bangladesh.
"We have sent an extra 3,000 troops" to the frontier area in the past week, Colonel Didarul Alam Chowdhury, Chittagong sector commander of the Bangladesh Rifles border force, told AFP.
"We are ready to resist any attacks or intrusion into our territory by Myanmar forces," he said.
Dhaka said earlier this month it had asked a UN tribunal to resolve the decades-old row with neighbours Myanmar and India over territorial boundaries in the Bay of Bengal, which holds significant hydrocarbon reserves.
"We have offered to hold talks as we want to settle the border issues with Myanmar amicably to avert any confrontation," Chowdhury added.
Bangladesh Armed Forces Division Brigadier General Abidus Samad confirmed the troop deployment.
"We've sent 3,000 troops to strengthen our position," Samad told AFP.
It was not immediately known how many soldiers were already assigned to the border area.
Dhaka's Foreign Minister Dipu Moni denied earlier on Friday any tension along the border.
She issued a statement saying she met with her counterpart from Myanmar, Nyan Win, on the sidelines of the Asia Cooperation Dialogue in the Sri Lankan capital earlier in the week.
"Regarding recent media reporting on troops movement along the Bangladesh-Myanmar border, the Myanmar Foreign Minister stated that no such event has taken place and these (are a) routine exercise by their border security force," the Bangladesh statement said.
- AFP /ls
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