Historically,Shapuree Island, located at the mouth of the river, has played an important role territorially. It is considered one of the immediate causes for the firstAnglo-Burmese War.St. Martin's Island is also at the river's mouth.
This section needs to beupdated. Please help update this article to reflect recent events or newly available information.(March 2025)
Regular incidents in whichfishermen and Burmeserefugees are shot at by theTatmadaw (Myanmar Armed Forces), and/or refugees fleeing Myanmar are escorted back to Myanmar by Bangladeshi troops have occurred on the Naf River. These include but are not limited to the following:
February 1992 — The Lun Htin, A Burmese paramilitary force killed 20 refugees who were crossing the Naf River into Bangladesh.[2]
24 March 1994 — Members of theMyanmar Army's Western Military Command patrolling the Naf River found a group ofRohingya Muslims fishing in a small country boat. The soldiers tried to extort money from the fishermen, but when they were unable to do so, tied them up with rope and brought them toBalu Khali village inMaungdaw Township.[3] Eight of the Rohingya fishermen were interrogated and tortured for five days, and then they were all shot by firing squad.[3]
8 January 2000 — a three-day skirmish between Bangladeshi and Myanmar border guards amid rising tension over a controversial dam project by Myanmar.[4]
27 October 2001 — Burmese border troops killed one Bangladeshi man, wounded 2, and abducted 13 while they were fishing in the Naf River.[5]
22 January 2005 — 70 people were shot and killed when Burmese border guards opened fire on a group of 50 boats attempting to cross the Naf River. The border guards claimed that they believed the boats contained "smuggled rice," implying that their actions, culminating in the mass shooting of unarmed people, were justified.[6]
June 2012 — thousands ofRohingya Muslims fleeing sectarian violence inRakhine State sought refuge across the Naf River in theChittagong Division of Bangladesh,[7][8] though they were often escorted back by Bangladeshi troops.[9][10] On 11 July 2012, Burmese PresidentThein Sein suggested expelling the Rohingya people from Myanmar or having the UN relocate the 300,000 Rohingya people living in Myanmar, a policy the UN quickly rejected.[10]
August 2017 — TheBorder Guard Bangladesh station chief of the Ghumdum border post in Bangladesh accused Myanmar's military of firing on fleeing Rohingyas crossing the Naf River. AnAFP reporter counted more than a dozen mortar shells and several heavy machine gun rounds fired by Burmese security forces on the fleeing Rohingyas.[11]
2024 - 2025 —Arakan Army seized three cargo ships on the Naf River carrying approximately 50,000 bags of goods, including dried fish, betel nuts and coffee, valued at around Tk 40 crore, while en route from Yangon to Teknaf port in Bangladesh.[12][13] There also have been incidents of AA detaining Bangladeshi fishermen and vessels, including 16 fishermen in October 2024,[14] 15 boats in November 2024[15] and 4 more fisherman in February 2025.[16]
^Sifatul Quader Chowdhury (2012),"Naf River", in Sirajul Islam and Ahmed A. Jamal (ed.),Banglapedia: National Encyclopedia of Bangladesh (Second ed.),Asiatic Society of Bangladesh
