Bangladesh army: False campaign against us

Some 30,000 soldiers were joining more than 20,000 paramilitary forces already deployed across the nation, media reports said.

Bangladesh Army on Monday said certain quarters were propagating a false campaign against the military through social media ahead of the December 30 general elections to tarnish its image and cautioned the citizens to remain vigilant.

The army in a statement also advised all concerned to visit the official website of the Bangladesh Army and its social media accounts on Facebook and Youtube for any information regarding the force.

"Efforts are underway to tarnish the image of the military propagating different campaigns in the name of army and its various agencies through fake websites," it said.

Earlier in a statement, the home ministry said the armed forces would be stationed at different "nodal points" and convenient places in every district, sub-districts and major cities, while the elite anti-crime Rapid Action Battalion (RAB) and police's special armed battalion would be deployed as mobile and striking forces from December 26 to January 2.

Meanwhile, Chief Election Commissioner KM Nurul Huda said the forces have been deployed to remove the fear of all including the political parties. "The purpose of deploying the armed forces is to assure the voters (that the voting would be conducted peacefully). They will have more faith in the election once the armed forces are on patrol," he said at an election-related function at the Election Commission.

About 400-450 platoons of the armed forces are deployed in 389 areas in 270 constituencies across the country. The army will work in 389 designated areas and the navy in 18.

Rohingya refugee camps to be sealed off
Bangladesh will seal off refugee camps housing about one million Rohingya Muslims for three days around the country's tense general election this week, officials said. Living in the southeastern border district of Cox's Bazar, they will not be allowed out of their settlements. "This is a security measure. The embargo also applies to NGO workers. They cannot go inside the camps unless it is an emergency," Bangladesh Refugee Commissioner said.

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