A tragic accident recently occurred within the Bangladesh Army when a tank barrel unexpectedly exploded during firing exercises conducted as part of routine military training, killing two soldiers on the spot and severely injuring another officer. Evidence emerging from the incident points to substandard ammunition supplied by Pakistan as the underlying cause.
The Bangladesh Army conducted the exercises last Wednesday at the Hathazari firing range in Chittagong, using a Chinese-made “Type 59G Durjoy” main battle tank. During the drill, as an attempt was made to fire a round, the barrel came under severe stress and exploded mid-air, killing the two soldiers instantly. Officials investigating the incident subsequently uncovered a significant finding: although the tank itself was manufactured in China, the 125mm HE-FS TK ammunition used in it had been imported from Pakistan.
In 2024, during the tenure of Muhammad Yunus’s government, Bangladesh had purchased approximately 2,000 tank shells from the Pakistan Ordnance Factory. Defence experts say weapons and ammunition manufactured by this Pakistani facility have a history of being substandard and frequently failing quality control checks.
This is not the first time Pakistani-supplied ordnance has endangered Bangladeshi soldiers. In May 2024, the same “Type 59G Durjoy” tank exploded at the Chattogram firing range, killing one soldier. Following that incident, a special team of Chinese experts visited Bangladesh to investigate and issued a report concluding that there was no defect in the tank’s manufacturing, attributing the explosion instead to substandard ammunition sourced from Pakistan. Internal reports had already flagged the issue as far back as 2022, when 125mm shells manufactured at the ordnance factory in Wah Cantonment, Pakistan, failed quality tests.
Allegations are now emerging that the Bangladesh Army’s continued use of substandard shells purchased from Pakistan — despite prior warnings and previously documented quality failures — has cost the lives of two more soldiers. The incident has triggered strong anger in Bangladesh, with critics accusing Pakistan of endangering Bangladeshi soldiers’ lives by supplying substandard weaponry.