Horror numbs Nation after Brutal Massacre of Senior Military Officers

[roshiq]

It was brutal & truly horrifying that even worse than any terrorist attack!

The barbarity is unimaginable...unforgivable.

It all started when thousands of rounds of gunshots and mortar started fired that rocked the Bangladesh Rifles Headquarters and adjacent areas in Dhaka as �angry and aggrieved� BDR soldiers launched a violent, bloody and armed mutiny against their high command from around 8:30 am, February 25, 2009.

At least near about 100 army officers (including high ranks as Major Generals, Colonels, Lt. Colonels and Majors) have been brutally killed, many are still missing and hundreds of their family members have been hold hostage. Some female officers, wives & family members of army officers also raped & brutally killed during this rebel of BDR personnels. Their indiscriminate firing at outside also caused more than 5 deaths of civilians.

With all of its five gates of BDR Headquarter at Dhaka closed, hundreds of soldiers wearing red bandanna and partly covering their faces with yellow clothes were seen staging armed processions in front of the gates�letting the people know that they were angry against senior army officers of their organization. The "reasons" that they said at the first day to the TV & Newspaper media were asking for accountability of the Project Dal Bhat (In March 2007 the caretaker govt. started the Project Dal Bhat by BDR low rank personnel to sell rice, vegetables and other commodities through BDR mobile outlets to bring down their prices during the high inflation period of economy). Other demands were PM or Home Minister must come in person to assure the BDR rebels that their demands will be met, BDR will solve their own problem Army should not interfere in BDR�s business, BDR head should not be appointed from Army.

After two days of high drama, the so called "mutiny" staged by a group of low-ranking personnel of Bangladesh Rifles (BDR) ended after the Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina yesterday warned the mutinous border guards (BDR) of tough action against them for the sake of national interest unless they surrender arms immediately to go back to the barracks. It ended yesterday evening without any military confrontation even though the army was well prepared to launch a crackdown with tanks, armored personnel carriers (APCs) and commandos. Though at the very first day the PM instantly agreed even for 'amnesty' as they first demanded and also fulfill all their demands, but they didn't responded to that.

After the BDR surrenders, when armored police and RAB (Rapid Action Battalion...a joint force of Police & Army) personnel entered inside the BDR Headquarter which is a very large area in the middle of capital of Bangladesh, the real pictures started to flash out. Near about 25 Army officers rescued and they shared (with media crews) their near to death experiences who have been able to escaped & survived from those maniacs called BDR Rebellions. It started at the Darbar Hall where different BDR personnel were there to receive trophy of current BDR WEEK festival. Many high rank army officers were also attending there to share their reviews & ideas for further improvement of this national defense organization. When Major General Shakil Ahmed...the Chief of BDR was about to start his speech then one BDR low rank Jawan (soilder) entered from the backdoor with a gun. Instantly the jawan arrested, (because no one is allowed to go inside the hall with any types of weapon) but surprisingly all other Jawans & BDR officers (non army) left the hall, only different personnel from Army was their & just after a moment some round of gunfire started outside the hall. All happened within a some fraction of time. The BDR Soldiers wearing red bandanna and partly covering their faces entered the hall and started shooting & killing all of them. They were actually ready with the heavy weapons that they took by breaking the Weapon Storage room before or some time after the program begins at the hall.
It was all pre-planned...a genocide. Even now different Govt. officials, intelligent sources (who have been greatly failed to suspect & report this mess) confirmed that a group of people may be within the organization or from outside was behind this massacre & use normal BDR jawans/soldiers by wrongly stimulated their anger against the high officers of BDR who are also high rank personnel from Bangladesh Army to make a chaos in different national organizations of Bangladesh or even may prove to be an unworthy country in the map of the globe. News source says, the mutiny in Bangladesh Rifles (BDR) was spearheaded by a group of 20 to 25 non-commissioned soldiers who forced others to take up guns and participate in the savagery that followed, according to information shared by surviving officers and some fleeing mutineers.

The Killers dug a hole and dumped 39 bodies of the officers of Bangladesh Rifles (BDR) during the 33-hour mutiny of border guards at its headquarters in the city. The mutineers buried the army officers deputed to BDR, including BDR Chief Director General Major General Shakil Ahmed, in the mass grave after the gruesome killing, apparently to hide their brutality. The hole, which is around 12 feet in length, 10 feet wide and 15 feet deep, is located on the eastern side of the BDR hospital. The rescuers found the bodies dumped haphazardly in the hole. It was hard to identify many of the bodies as mutinous BDR men fired innumerable shots on the bodies and also charged bayonets to vent their anger. They also burned down the house and car of BDR DG/Chief and his wife is still missing. Some unconfirmed sources said that his wife have been burned alive inside a Military Jeep. Their children got saved as they were at the schools during the massacre took place at BDR HC. Even the house guests of BDR Chief (an ex army officer & his pregnant wife) also killed.

Undoubtedly, it has been a great loss for Bangladesh. Though killings of military personnel had been occurred in Bangladesh before after the Liberation War at 1971 but this is the most massive one. Even in a war a defeated country may not loss this kinda high number of top rank army officers like Major Generals and Colonels at a time. We express our deepest sympathies for all the people who lost their love ones in this one of the worst nightmare of our nation.

For more info and details please click any of the following link...

http://www.bangladeshnews.com.bd/

http://www.thedailystar.net/newDesign/index.php

http://www.newagebd.com/2009/feb/27/front.html#1

[neverending]

So terrible. Are these animals going to be found and punished?

[fortunato]

Oh my goodness, I've been hearing about this on the radio. I can't believe it.
I actually thought of you immediately, Roshiq, when it first happened.

There's really not much to even say to something like this, but to focus on the future and come to terms with what has happened.

[newb]

WTF

The brutality of the human race simply dumbfounds me.

[Doc Faustus]

I can't watch the news anymore. The inhumanity is nauseating.

[newb]

Originally Posted by Doc Faustus

I can't watch the news anymore. The inhumanity is nauseating.

between shit like that and the financial situation of the country.....I've had self imposed week long ban of ALL news....NO TV...NO RADIO


just trying to keep my sanity.

[Doc Faustus]

Excellent plan. The only way to defy an apocalyptic situation is to refuse to participate in it.

[newb]

Originally Posted by Doc Faustus

Excellent plan. The only way to defy an apocalyptic situation is to refuse to participate in it.

works for me....that and plenty of BEER :D

[roshiq]

The Prime Minister, Sheikh Hasina, on Friday said that the general amnesty she had declared for the rebel Bangladesh Rifles jawans would not cover those who had been involved in killings during the bloody rebellion in the border force’s headquarters in Dhaka.
‘Investigations will be conducted to identify those who had plotted the dastardly incident,’ she told reporters at Mirpur cantonment after meeting the relatives of the army officers who were killed and those who had been freed from captivity in the BDR headquarters. ‘It seems all BDR men were not involved in the incident. A certain group plotted and staged it and it has to be inquired if outside quarters instigated the incident… Investigation will be launched to identify them,’ she said. About the general amnesty for the rebels, the prime minister said though she had declared an amnesty, every institution had its own rules and they would conduct investigation accordingly. The amnesty will not be applicable to those who were involved in the dastardly acts like killings. She also urged all to guard against any new plot to stage such incident as ‘instigators have not stopped their game.’

The government had formed a high-powered investigation committee to probe the BDR rebellion. The government also had declared ‘National Mourning Days’ for three days starting Friday in honor of those slain in the revolt. National flag will fly at half-mast during the three-day mourning.

Several thousand BDR personnel who were in their headquarters at Pilkhana started to flee at around 1:00 pm on Thursday, sensing trouble. In a frantic bid to escape, they scaled the boundary wall at more than 15 points between BDR Gate-1 and Gate-5, near Gate-2, said local people. Around 25 BDR members left their arms outside the boundary wall. Many others who escaped later however threw those back inside the wall. And about 60 border guards re-entered the BDR headquarters crossing the boundary wall after 8:00 am yesterday, locals said. Rapid Action Battalion (Rab) detained only 193 fleeing BDR men at different points in and around the capital, and seized lot of cash & jewelries of the family members of army officers from their possession, said Commander SMAK Azad, director of legal and media wing of Rab. A law enforcement agency official said they found around 300 BDR personnel in the headquarters yesterday while their number was about 100 on Friday. A resident of nearby Ganaktuli Lane, told these correspondents that escape of BDR men started at about 1:00 pm on Thursday and continued till 8:00 pm.
Rescuers searching for dozens of officers still missing uncovered two more mass graves on the BDR headquarters premises today (Saturday). It was still unclear how many bodies were in the graves, sources said. Rescuers on Friday found a mass grave on the same compound in the capital containing 38 bodies. Another 24 bodies have been recovered in other parts of the compound including in drains and sewers following a 33-hour mutiny by the BDR soldiers that ended on Thursday.

The whole nation is passing one of its most terrifying & shocking times in the history…a true living nightmare for Bangladesh at the moment.

[Disease]

Wowa, I had no idea about this as I haven't seen or read any news at all this week, makes me wonder what else I missed. I think I should buy a paper today.