Will Bangladesh Army Chief Address All Officers on Tuesday?

Dhaka, May 19 (NationPress) In a pivotal turn of events, the US Charge d'affaires in Bangladesh, Tracey Ann Jacobson, held discussions with Bangladesh Army Chief General Waker-uz-Zaman on Monday. Sources describe this meeting as a "last-ditch effort" to persuade Dhaka of the urgent need for a 'humanitarian corridor' along the Bangladesh-Myanmar border.

Joined by senior US officials including Political and Economic Counselor Eric Geelan and Defence Attache Lt. Col. Michael DeMichiei, Jacobson's meeting aimed to address pressing concerns.

Notably, it has come to light that General Zaman will speak to all "available officers" in Dhaka at the Army's Senaprangan facility at 9:30 am BST on May 20.

Army authorities have mandated that the attending officers wear their "combat uniforms". After this assembly, Zaman is set to engage in a private meeting with Chief Adviser Mohammad Yunus, who leads the interim government.

Yunus recently convened with Khalilur Rahman, the National Security Advisor, and Lieutenant General Kamrul Hassan, the Principal Staff Officer of the Armed Forces Division, to discuss strategies involving Jacobson.

Reports indicate that Yunus, Rahman, and Hassan have formulated a plan urging Jacobson to convince Army Chief Zaman of the necessity for a 'humanitarian corridor' to facilitate logistics and provisions to Rakhine State in Myanmar.

However, Bangladeshi security sources indicate that the Army chief remains steadfast in his original stance.

Jacobson also held a meeting with Rahman on Monday afternoon.

It's noteworthy that General Zaman previously called for the immediate removal of Lt. Gen. Hassan, who had approached Jacobson at the US Embassy in Dhaka's Baridhara neighborhood.

The Armed Forces Division maintains that the only viable solution to the ongoing border security challenges and to ensure a stable humanitarian corridor is by declaring the Bangladesh-Myanmar border a Military Operations Zone (MOZ).

Sources reveal that the AFD supports granting the Bangladesh armed forces "full control" of the border to manage it effectively, which would also allow the BGB to focus on other critical security tasks, including the border with India.

Nevertheless, some factions within the Bangladesh Army perceive the current security situation along the Bangladesh-Myanmar border as a result of geopolitical maneuvers by the United States, which allegedly seeks to involve the Bangladesh Army in covert support for the Arakan Army and other People's Defence Forces in Myanmar, complicating Dhaka's position.