Bangladesh: Security Forces Raid Islamist Bases
| Publisher | Jamestown Foundation |
| Author | Alexander Sehmer |
| Publication Date | 7 April 2017 |
| Citation / Document Symbol | Terrorism Monitor Volume: 15 Issue: 7 |
| Cite as | Jamestown Foundation, Bangladesh: Security Forces Raid Islamist Bases, 7 April 2017, Terrorism Monitor Volume: 15 Issue: 7, available at: https://www.refworld.org/docid/58ee2e444.html [accessed 18 May 2023] |
| 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
Bangladesh's paramilitary Rapid Action Battalion have mounted a series of raids on the hideouts of suspected terrorists, but amid the high-profile crackdown there are suggestions the country's Islamist militants may be growing more sophisticated.
Security forces stormed a building in Moulvibazar town on March 31, bringing a three-day siege to an end (BDNews24, April 1). The bodies of three suspected militants were found inside. Police said the group had blown themselves up rather than surrender. A day earlier, a raid on a building in a nearby neighborhood uncovered eight bodies, possibly including that of a child (Star Online, March 30). Both buildings were owned by the same person — a UK citizen of Bangladeshi origin, according to media reports (BDNews24, March 30).
The Moulvibazar raids have arguably been the security forces' most successful raids in recent months. During a previous raid in in Comilla, about 50 miles from the capital Dhaka, the suspected militants escaped, while the siege of an alleged militant hideout in Sylhet city saw at least six people killed and several others injured when bombs went off outside the police cordon (BDNews24, March 28). The alleged militants had also reportedly attempted to secure explosives to a refrigerator that had been used to block the building's doorway (Daily Star [Bangladesh], March 25).
The raids are a continuation of the crackdown initiated in the wake of last year's devastating attack on a popular Dhaka restaurant, in which militants kill 20 hostages. They also follow two suicide attacks close to Dhaka’s Hazrat Shahjalal International Airport (Dhaka Tribune, March 25).
Bangladeshi officials insist the attacks are the work of domestic jihadist group Jamayetul Mujahideen Bangladesh (JMB), which the government — for its own political ends — likes to link to opposition parties such as the Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) and Jamaat-e-Islami.
The recent raids appear to have targeted a new group, referred to in local media reports as "Neo-JMB." Whether this is an admission of a developing jihadist threat is unclear. However, the increasing use of explosives could be an indication that this is the case. Previous jihadist attacks in Bangladesh have been brutal, though relatively unsophisticated.
The suicide attacks near the airport and the incidents during the recent raids could indicate a better-resourced and better-trained group of militants is emerging in Bangladesh. Following the Sylhet city raid, security forces recovered four bodies, some apparently still rigged with explosives that appear to have taken experts several days to safely defuse (Click Ittefaq, April 4).
