Chittagong Hill Tracts conflict

Insurgency in the Chittagong Hill Tracts
Part of the Cold War and Terrorism in Bangladesh
Shanti Bahini insurgents, photographed on 5 May 1994.
Date First phase: c. 1977 – 2 December 1997 (20 years) Second phase: 2022–present Location Chittagong Hill Tracts, Bangladesh Result Ongoing First phase conflict ended with the Chittagong Hill Tracts Peace Accord Second phase conflict resumed in 2022.
Belligerents
First phase (1977–1997):  Bangladesh	First phase (1977-1997): Parbatya Chattagram Jana Samhati Samiti
Second phase (2022–present):  Bangladesh PCJSS-MN Larma UPDF-D Mog Party (MNP)	Second phase (2022–present): PCJSS UPDF	Second phase (2022–present): Kuki-Chin National Front
Commanders and leaders
First phase (1977-1997) Ziaur Rahman Abdus Sattar A. F. M. Ahsanuddin Chowdhury Hussain Muhammad Ershad Shahabuddin Ahmed Abdur Rahman Biswas Mashiur Rahman Shah Azizur Rahman Ataur Rahman Khan Mizanur Rahman Chowdhury Moudud Ahmed Kazi Zafar Ahmed Khaleda Zia Muhammad Habibur Rahman Sheikh Hasina Abu Saleh Mohammad Mustafizur Rahman Mohammed Abdul Matin Mohabbat Jan Chowdhury Abdul Mannan Siddique Mahmudul Hasan Abdul Matin Chowdhury Khandaker Mosharraf Hossain Rafiqul Islam Faiz Uddin Ahmed ASHK Sadek Salahuddin Ahmed A.M. Anisuzzaman Kazi Jalal Uddin Ahmad Md. Shamsul Haque Chishti Mohammad Siddiqur Rahman Anisur Rahman M. A. Malek Md. Hasinur Rahman Md. Abdul Hakim Kazi Muhammad Manzoor e Mawla Nurul Islam Shishu Mir Shawkat Ali Imamuzzaman Chowdhury Abdus Salam Ziaur Rahman Hussain Muhammad Ershad Atiqur Rahman Nuruddin Khan Abu Saleh Mohammad Nasim Muhammad Mahbubur Rahman Sadruddin Mohammad Hossain Sultan Mahmud Momtaz Uddin Ahmed Altaf Hossain Chowdhury Jamal Uddin Ahmed Atiqur Rahman R. A. M. Golam Muktadir Sofi Ahmed Chowdhury Sadiqur Rahman Chowdhury Mohammad Abdul Latif Mohammad Anwar Hossain Ejaz Ahmed Chowdhury Mohammad Azizur Rahman Hossain Ahmed A. B. M. G. Kibria M. M. R. Khan E. A. Chowdhury Abdur Raquib Khandaker Taibuddin Ahmed A. M. Chowdhury Enamul Huq A. S. M. Shahjahan M. Azizul Haq Md Ismail Hossain Second phase (2022–present) Mohammed Shahabuddin Mohammad Abdul Hamid Muhammad Yunus Sheikh Hasina  Jahangir Alam Chowdhury Asaduzzaman Khan  SM Kamrul Hassan Mizanur Rahman Shamim Waker-uz-Zaman Waker-uz-Zaman SM Shafiuddin Ahmed Hasan Mahmood Khan Shaikh Abdul Hannan Mohammad Ashrafuzzaman Siddiqui A K M Nazmul Hasan Shakil Ahmed Md. Moinul Islam Chowdhury Abdullah Al-Mamun Shaktiman Chakma X Tapan Jyoti Chakma X	Second phase (2022–present): Shantu Larma Prasit Bikash Khisa Rabi Chakma	First phase (1977–1997): M.N. Larma † Shantu Larma  Second phase (2022–present): Nathan Bom
Units involved
First phase (1977–1997):  Bangladesh Army 24th Infantry Division  Bangladesh Air Force Paramilitary Forces: Bangladesh Rifles Bangladesh Ansar Law Enforcement: Bangladesh Police Armed Police Battalion Second phase (2022–present):  Bangladesh Army 24th Infantry Division Paramilitary Forces: Border Guard Bangladesh	First phase (1977–1997): Shanti Bahini Second phase (2022–present): Kuki-Chin National Army
Strength
115,000–150,000[1] Army: 33,000[2]-80,000[3] Border Guard Bangladesh : 25,000[3] Bangladesh Ansar: 5,000[3] Armed Police: 10,000[3]	First phase (1977–1997): Shanti Bahini 2,600–15,000[2][4] Second phase (2022–present): Kuki-Chin National Army 2,000[5]
Casualties and losses
First phase: 6,000+ combatants killed (partial list)[6]		3,500–25,000 civilians (Bengali settlers and tribal villagers)[2] 80,000 civilians displaced[7] Total 30,000 Violent Deaths[7] 400+ conflict-related deaths from disease in Bangladesh (June-Aug 1995 only)[8] 7,000+ non-violent deaths among refugees in India ( 14–21 May 1990 only)[8]

The insurgency in the Chittagong Hill Tracts (Bengali: পার্বত্য চট্টগ্রামে বিদ্রোহ), also known as the Chittagong Hill Tracts conflict (Bengali: পার্বত্য চট্টগ্রাম যুদ্ধ), refers to a political and armed conflict that occurred in Bangladesh in two phases:

• First phase happened from 1977 to 1997 between the government of Bangladesh and the Parbatya Chattagram Jana Samhati Samiti (United People's Party of the Chittagong Hill Tracts) and its armed wing, the Shanti Bahini, over the issue of autonomy and the land rights of Jumma people, mainly for Chakma people and the other ethnic minority of Chittagong Hill Tracts. Shanti Bahini launched an insurgency against government forces in 1977, when the country was under military rule, and the conflict continued for twenty years until the government and the PCJSS signed the Chittagong Hill Tracts Peace Accord in 1997.^[9][10][11]
• Second phase started in 2022 with the Kuki-Chin National Front under Nathan Bom, who wanted to establish a separate state for the Kuki-Chin ethnic groups in the Bandarban & Rangamati district, and still ongoing.

The actions then carried out by the Armed Forces and the Parbatya Chattagram Jana Sanghati Samiti groups resulted in casualties on both sides.^[12] There were also reports of mass rapes by the paramilitary Bangladesh Ansars, though these have been disputed.^[13] According to Amnesty International as of June 2013 the Bangladeshi government made "praiseworthy progress" in implementing the terms of the peace accord and in addressing the Jumma people's concerns over the return of their land. Amnesty estimate that there are currently only 900 internally displaced Jumma families.^[14][15]