The home of Huzayfa Afnan, a child killed by gunfire from Myanmar, is engulfed in mourning. Her body was taken by ambulance to her village in the Techhibridge area of Hwaikyang Union, Teknaf. As soon as the body arrived, grief spread across the entire village.
Afnan was shot in the head while playing near her home during clashes between Myanmar’s rebel armed group Arakan Army and Rohingya armed groups on January 11. After battling for her life for 28 days, nine-year-old Afnan died on Saturday.
She breathed her last at 9:50am while undergoing treatment in the intensive care unit of the National Institute of Neurosciences and Hospital in Dhaka. She was first taken to a Chattogram hospital, and as her condition worsened, transferred to the Dhaka hospital for advanced treatment.
Her parents and relatives broke down in tears upon seeing the lifeless body of their beloved child, their cries filling the area with sorrow.
Afnan’s father, Jasim Uddin, said, “Until the last moment, I counted the days hoping to get my daughter back alive. I thought she would recover and return to my arms. But that hope was never fulfilled. After 28 days of treatment in Dhaka, my innocent daughter died from gunshot wounds. She was innocent. She had no enemies. She only wanted to live a normal life. We cannot accept her death in any way.”
Afnan will be buried in the family graveyard after namaz-e-janaza.
Local resident Robiul Alam expressed grief over the child’s death. He said, “Huzaifa was not only her family’s child, but the child of the entire Techhibridge area. It is deeply tragic that ordinary people are dying from gunfire along the border.”
Another neighbour, Elias Hossain, said, “We are living in constant fear in the border area. We want security so that no family has to receive their child’s body like this again.”
