Police said a Bangladeshi woman, named as 48-year-old Hosne Ara, and an unnamed ethnic Rohingya man had been killed.

“They were sitting in the kitchen … when a mortar hit the place,” Ara’s daughter-in-law said, too distraught to give her name.

“She was serving lunch to the Rohingya man who was hired by the family for farm work when they were hit.”

Bangladesh Home Minister Asaduzzaman Khan on Sunday said that border police officers from neighbouring Myanmar’s Rakhine state had “entered our territory for self-protection” ahead of advancing AA fighters.

A spokesman of the Border Guard Bangladesh, the country’s frontier forces, said on Monday that “at least 95 border officers of Myanmar have crossed the border and taken shelter in Bangladeshi border posts”.

Aid agency Medecins Sans Frontieres (MSF) said its doctors in Cox’s Bazar had on Sunday received 17 patients “following fighting at the Bangladesh-Myanmar border”.

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“All the patients had gunshot wounds”, MSF said on Monday. “Two were in life-threatening condition, and five were seriously injured.”

However, Bangladesh’s private broadcaster Channel 24 said the number of guards was higher, reporting at least 66 officers had sought shelter, including 10 with bullet wounds.

“The Arakan Army has captured many areas of Rakhine state one after another,” Khan told reporters in Dhaka. “According to our information, they are advancing forward.”

In October, an alliance including AA insurgents and other ethnic minority fighters launched a joint offensive across northern Myanmar, seizing vital trade hubs on the Chinese border.

Last month, the alliance announced a China-mediated ceasefire, but it does not apply to areas near the Bangladeshi and Indian border, where fighting continues.

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Myanmar’s junta extends state of emergency amid struggle to contain rebel forces

Myanmar’s junta extends state of emergency amid struggle to contain rebel forces

Parts of Myanmar near the 270km (167-mile) border with Bangladesh – as well as neighbouring India to the north – have seen frequent clashes since November, when AA fighters ended a ceasefire that had largely held since a 2021 coup.

In October, an alliance including AA insurgents and other ethnic minority fighters launched a joint offensive across northern Myanmar, seizing vital trade hubs on the Chinese border.

Bangladeshi villagers living close to the border said they were fearful the fighting would spill over.

Khairul Bashar, 25, said his uncle was shot in the leg by a stray bullet fired from Myanmar.

“We are spending sleepless nights in fear”, Bashar said.

Rahima Begum, 67, said she had fled the Bangladeshi village of Tumbru, saying her grandson “screamed in fear” when gunfire came close.

“Our homes were sprayed with bullets,” Begum said. “One bomb fell near our home and it shook terribly.”

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Primary teacher Helal Uddin said students had stopped coming to her school near the border, and she had moved into Cox’s Bazar for “safety and shelter”.

MSF said it was monitoring the situation, expressing “concern for people living on both sides of the border who are affected by violence”.

Khan said Bangladesh had bolstered security along its border, and would contact Myanmar to return the guards.

“Whoever enters inside our border, we will detain and hand them over to Myanmar,” he said.