About 120 US Army and Air Force officers checked into Radisson Blu Hotel in Chittagong on September 10 to ostensibly conduct joint exercise with their Bangladeshi counterparts even as there has been an increasing presence of American soldiers, including Special Forces personnel, in the country since the fall of the Sheikh Hasina regime.
The US Army and Air Force officers reached Chittagong from Dhaka on a US-Bangla airlines on September 10 and before checking into Radisson Blu where 85 rooms had been pre-booked for the American guests.
An Egyptian Air Force transport aircraft also landed at Chittagong’s Shah Amanat International Airport on September 14.
The US soldiers today visited Bangladesh Air Force’s Patenga airbase adjoining the international airport.
The names of none of the US soldiers were entered into the hotel’s guest register.
The US soldiers are expected to leave Chittagong on September 20.
The arrival of the US soldiers, for an unspecified exercise in Cox’s Bazar, comes in the wake of the recovery of a body of a US Special Forces Command (Airborne) officer at The Westin Hotel in Dhaka on August 31.
This officer was identified by Dhaka Police as Terrence Arvelle Jackson, 50, who arrived in Bangladesh in April this year and was subsequently involved in providing training to Bangladeshi soldiers.
The Bangladesh Army has been cagey about the presence of US soldiers on its territory, barring Operation Pacific Angel and Tiger Lightning-2025 exercise for which advance teams of officers flew in from Qatar and Thailand to Chittagong.
Tiger Lightning-2025 aimed to enhance peacekeeping readiness and promote interoperability between the armed forces of both nations.
Its focus was on strengthening regional security and exploring areas where the US can support Bangladesh’s military.
Tiger Lightning-2025, jointly conducted by the Bangladesh Army and the United States Army Pacific Command (USARPAC), was held at Jalalabad Cantonment, Sylhet.
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Information accessed by Northeast News shows that two large transport aircraft with one of them using the call sign YJ-692.
The two aircraft have been identified as C-130J Super Hercules, with are four-engined turboprop military transport aircraft.
They are used for tactical air transport, airdrop of personnel and equipment, humanitarian and disaster relief, search and rescue operations and special operations.
The Super Hercules is known for its ability to operate from rough, dirt strips, its all-weather capabilities and its efficiency.
