Home Minister Salahuddin Ahmed on Tuesday inaugurated Bangladesh’s first Shimanto School of Surveillance and Drone Warfare in Sylhet, aimed at boosting surveillance in remote border areas and strengthening drone use in combat.
The school, set up at the Sylhet sector headquarters of Border Guard Bangladesh (BGB), will train personnel to operate advanced drones fitted with thermal imaging and night vision, the minister said.
He added that digital surveillance along the border would be expanded to check smuggling, drugs and arms trafficking, human trafficking and illegal entry.
During the inauguration, the minister observed training activities, a practical drone demonstration and a drill. He described the initiative as a significant development in BGB’s history, saying digital programmes were being expanded across forces and institutions to help build a Bangladesh driven by talent, technology and knowledge.
The minister said digital surveillance, night vision and thermal imaging drones would be deployed in areas where manual monitoring is difficult, helping identify people across the border and detect smuggling activities.
He said that the BGB is assembling and manufacturing its own drones, which could grow into a defence industry in future. Drone capacity would be expanded to allow monitoring from outposts, headquarters and regional commands.
Drones could also be used during disasters for relief and rescue operations in remote areas, he said, noting that BGB members had already deployed them for such work.
Referring to modern drones on display at the centre, Salahuddin said they will try to acquire more of world's advanced models within one to two years.
The training programme currently caters to force personnel, but civilians could be included in future depending on need and opportunity, he added.
Bangladesh opens first border surveillance and drone warfare school
BGB will train personnel to use thermal imaging and night-vision drones in hard-to-monitor frontier areas
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