Myanmar and Bangladesh border guard forces will cooperate to combat Arakan Army (AA), a local insurgent group and Arakan Rohingya Salvation Army (ARSA), which Myanmar designated as a terrorist organization, and it will help to provide assistance for security, said Maungdaw district administrator Soe Aung during a meeting between senior officers of the border guard forces from Myanmar and Bangladesh held at Nay Pyi Taw on April 9. “The meeting provided much for security issues. Now border guard forces from both countries will cooperate to attack the AA and ARSA together. Repatriation issue was not discussed in this meeting,” said the district administrator. The border guard forces will cooperate with police force to prevent narcotic drugs smuggling to Bangladesh, said Soe Aung. He replied to a question about the stability in border area and the situation of the ARSA, “I cannot say it exactly as it is a security affair. The situation is stable before I came here. Terrorists always plot to attack in unguarded moment. Now we have agreement with Bangladesh. The AA and ARSA are based in Bangladesh and carried out terror attacks in Maungdaw and Buthidaung and the anti-terror process will be improved as we have agreement to cooperate.” Although both border guard forces were jointly conducted patrolling in border area previously, it will be enhanced due to agreement to open liaison office, he said. He said, “The issue of attack over border area is included in the discussion. The border area is long and we can only observe the places where police outposts are based. There are many places where police outposts are not based. We have agreement that if we cannot prove the attack was made by border guard police force, we cannot blame it on other. For instance, the AA and ARSA attacked but we cannot tell who attacked us. So we have agreement that we will make an objection if we are sure who did it.” The issue about the list of ARSA terrorists sent to Bangladesh is not discussed in this meeting and although Bangladesh authorities are checking on people assumed to be include in the list, the terrorists are hiding and waiting for opportunity to plot terrorist attack, he said.