A Correspondent:
Chattogram: Huzaifa Afnan, a 9-year-old girl child from Teknaf who sustained bullet wounds in Arakan Army shootout in Myanmar border, shifted to Dhaka for better treatment.
Local administration has taken initiative to shift her Dhaka from Chattogram Medical College Hospital (CMCH) for improved medical care as her condition is critical, attending doctors at CMCH said.
Huzaifa was shot in the vicinity of the Hoikang Techcha Bridge, located three kilometers from the Teknaf-Myanmar border in Cox’s Bazar, on Sunday morning.
She is daughter of Jasim Uddin, who resides in Lambabil village under Hoikang Union of Teknaf upazila of the district.
The minor girl received severe bullet injuries in the gunfire believed to be made by Arakan Army from Myanmar bordering side while she was on her way to buy breakfast with her grandfather that morning.
Professor Harun Or Rashid, the Head of the Anesthesia and ICU Department at CMCH,
stated that the injured child is being transferred to the National Institute of Neuroscience and Hospital in Dhaka for better treatment.
Following the advice of Medical Board, Huzaifa is being transported to Dhaka in an ambulance at ap-proximately 4:30 pm this afternoon.
He mentioned that in order to ‘alleviate the pressure’ on Huzaifa’s brain, who was on life support in the ICU of CMCH, her skull was detached, the blood clot in the brain was extracted, and the skull was stored in a refrigerator. He also noted that Huzaifa was underwent surgery on her head. However, doc-tors could not extracted the bullet from skull as it remains located deep in the brain posing a significant risk in attempt in removal process.
Meanwhile, the pressure on the brain has been alleviated. Huzaifa’s uncle, madrasa teacher Shawkat Ali, stated that Huzaifa is being transported to Dhaka, “We are taking her to Dhaka with the assistance of the administration. Members of the BGB and a physician are accompanying us,” he added.
The day following Huzaifa’s injuries, a young man named Hanif lost his leg due to a landmine explosion in the same vicinity on Monday morning (January 12). The families of the victims and local inhabitants apprehends that Huzaifa and Hanif were injured seriously by bullets fired by and the landmines set by Myanmar’s armed outfit -the Arakan Army (AA) in fighting with Myanmar state force .
Hanif’s brother, Imam Hossain, verified that Hanif, who was also severely injured in the landmine explo-sion around 9pm on Monday, was also admitted to CMCH.
