Bangladesh: Recent Killings Raise Question of al-Qaeda Presence
| Publisher | Jamestown Foundation |
| Author | Alexander Sehmer |
| Publication Date | 16 May 2016 |
| Citation / Document Symbol | Terrorism Monitor Volume: 14 Issue: 10 |
| Cite as | Jamestown Foundation, Bangladesh: Recent Killings Raise Question of al-Qaeda Presence , 16 May 2016, Terrorism Monitor Volume: 14 Issue: 10, available at: https://www.refworld.org/docid/573ec1ac4.html [accessed 3 November 2019] |
| Disclaimer | This is not a UNHCR publication. UNHCR is not responsible for, nor does it necessarily endorse, its content. Any views expressed are solely those of the author or publisher and do not necessarily reflect those of UNHCR, the United Nations or its Member States. |
Link to original story on Jamestown website
Extremists in Bangladesh killed two gay rights activists in April, the latest in a spate of attacks on liberals and secularists. Xulhaz Mannan, a 35-year-old editor of Roopbaan, the country's only gay magazine, alongside actor and activist Mahbub Rabbi Tonoy, were hacked to death in Mannan's apartment in the Kalabagan neighborhood of Dhaka by a group of five men claiming to be delivery workers (The Daily Star [Bangladesh], April 26). A police officer and security guard were also injured in the attack.
Within hours, Ansar al-Islam, which purports to be the Bangladeshi branch of al-Qaeda in the Indian Subcontinent (AQIS), claimed responsibility for the killings. Later, the group released a gruesome video that included images of the bodies being dragged around the apartment (DNA India, April 30).
Some have characterized the attacks as an escalating competition between Islamic State (IS) and al-Qaeda for prominence in Bangladesh (NDTV, May 5). Bangladeshi authorities, however, deny the presence of al-Qaeda and IS in the country. Instead, they insist the recent series of killings is the work of local hardliners. When Nazimuddin Samad, a 26-year-old law student, was killed just days ahead of the aforementioned Mannan and Tonoy murders, the authorities attributed it to Ansarullah Bangla Team (ABT), dismissing claims by Ansar al-Islam that its members were behind the killing (Express Tribune, April 12).
Members of ABT, which has been outlawed since May 2015, have been arrested for similar kinds of killings in the past; last year, the group released a list of potential targets that included 14 secular writers (Dhaka Tribune, November 3, 2015). A similar document-containing no names but focusing on those who "promote" socially liberal ideas-was left by Mannan's killers (The Daily Star [Bangladesh], April 28).
As the authorities point out, Mannan's murder, which received a good deal of attention in the Western media in part because he was employed by USAID, is characteristic of the other ABT killings in that they were crudely carried out by individuals armed with machetes and meat cleavers (Terrorism Monitor, August 7, 2015).
The growing level of intolerance is a worrying development. Even if al-Qaeda and IS have no permanent presence in Bangladesh, recent events suggest their emissaries would have little trouble operating there.
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