Chittagong, Dec 06: Tribesmen today blocked roads leading to a southeastern Bangladesh Hill district after two men were killed in clashes between rival groups, police said. Factions that support and oppose a 1997 peace pact that ended a tribal insurgency accused each other of killing the two men in separate incidents on Thursday. Protesters from the united people's democratic front, which opposes the 1997 treaty as it did not grant autonomy, blocked roads to the rugged region bordering India and Myanmar to protest the death of its member, police said. The army and police stepped up patrols in the area but there was no further violence today.

The United People's Democratic Front has frequently clashed with the former rebels who signed the peace pact.


The Parbattya Chattagram Jana Sanghati Samity, the political wing of the former rebels, has called a general strike for Monday to demand the full implementation of the treaty, including a withdrawal of troops.


More than 2,500 people were killed until 1997 in the 20-year tribal insurgency, according to official figures.

Since the pact, at least 167 more people have died, mostly in clashes between supporters and opponents of the agreement.
Bureau Report