Gunbattle erupts in Bangladesh hill region, 6 dead

A gunbattle erupted in Bangladesh's restive Chittagong Hill Tract region between two tribal groups on Friday, killing six people, police said.

At least six people were wounded in the hour-long fighting in a densely forested part of Rangamati hill district, 340 km (210 miles) from the capital Dhaka.

The cause of the clash was not immediately clear but a police officer said one of the tribal groups supported a truce the government had signed in 1997 to end a decades-old tribal revolt while the other remained opposed to it.

Clashes between the tribal groups and Bengali settlers frequently erupt in the hilly region on the border with Myanmar and India.

In 1997 the Bangladesh government signed a peace deal with tribal Shanti Bahini guerrillas who waged a 25-year insurgency over their demand for political autonomy in the hill tract spread over 5,500 sq miles (14,200 sq km).