Bangladesh-Burma border clash

Bangladesh and Burmese border guards have exchanged fire amid rising tension over a controversial dam project on the Naaf river.

The brief shooting appeared to take place as Burma began constructing an embankment on the river.

There are no reports of any casualties.

A senior Bangladesh official says Burma has now agreed to suspend the construction work on the project.

The Naaf river, situated in south-eastern Bangladesh, forms part of the 320 km border between the two countries.

A senior military official said soldiers from the Bangladesh Rifles fired up to 25 warning shots from a post in the frontier town of Teknaf.

"Our guards had fired several warning shots to stop the construction and in reply to one to two rounds fired from Myanmar's [Burma] side," Colonel Mohammad Rafique Rahman told the AFP news agency.

Envoy summoned

Earlier, in the Bangladeshi capital, Dhaka, the Burmese ambassador was summoned to discuss concerns over the plan to dam the Naaf.

The ambassador, Tint Lwin, said that Burma was not responsible for the building of the dam.

He said local villagers had started construction and the Burmese authorities had nothing to do with it.

Both countries are reported to have deployed additional troops along the border in recent days.

Possible damage

Bangladesh says if the project goes ahead, it would flood or cause erosion in its territory and damage shrimp cultivation projects.

They say the construction would also violate a 1962 agreement between Dhaka and Rangoon not to build any dams to obstruct or divert the flow of the Naaf.

"We will resist the building of the dam on the Naaf river. We cannot allow this to go ahead," Reuters quoted an unnamed Bangladeshi border official as saying.

The Burmese authorities were not available for comment.