Bangladesh Attacks Show Increasing Islamic State Influence

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In the last six weeks, Bangladesh has been hit by a near-unprecedented series of Islamist militant attacks targeting foreigners and local Shi'a Muslims. On September 28, an Italian NGO worker, who was residing in the country, was shot and killed by attackers on a moped as he was jogging near the diplomatic area of capital city Dhaka (Daily Star [Dhaka], September 29). A few days later, on October 3, a Japanese aid worker was killed by gunmen in Rangpur, following which the Islamic State group reportedly claimed responsibility for the attack online (BDNews24, October 4). Soon afterwards, on October 5, a Christian Baptist priest was badly injured after being slashed by men in the town of Iswardi; five members of the Jama'at ul-Mujahideen Bangladesh (JMB) militant group were subsequently arrested for their suspected involvement (BanglaNews24, October 13). The attacks follow a string of mostly fatal knife and machete attacks on secular and atheist Bangladeshi bloggers earlier in the year, and underline how militant attacks in the country have recently trended towards being extremely low-tech. Attacks have also targeted specific individuals variously accused of insulting or challenging Islam, the country's dominant religion.

In a departure from this trend, however, on October 24, bomb attacks targeted the Hossaini Dalan Imambara, the most significant Shi'a shrine in Dhaka. One 14-year-old boy was killed, and others were injured. The attack occurred shortly before a pilgrimage to mark the Ashura festival, the most important in the Shi'a calendar, was due to take place. According to local investigators, the attacks involved three homemade bombs being detonated in one section of the facility, following which two more bombs were thrown into the crowd as people sought to flee the first explosions (Dhaka Tribune, October 27). The attack is reported to be the first such sectarian attack on the Shi'a shrine since its construction in the 17th century, underlining the impact of the influx of Wahhabi-derived ideologies on the country's complex religious make-up.

The Islamic State group, whose Wahhabi-influenced ideology is heavily focused around denouncing Shi'as as non-Muslims, subsequently claimed credit for the attack on the shrine via some of their commonly used Twitter profiles (Daily Star [Dhaka], October 24). Bangladesh's Home Minister, however, cast doubt on the group's claims of involvement, both in the shrine attack and in the prior assassinations: "Those who claim to be Islamic State here are offshoots of militant outfits Huji, al-Qaeda and JMB [Jama'at ul-Mujahideen Bangladesh]. They all have their roots within Jamaat-Shibir" (Daily Star [Dhaka], October 25). Still, while it may be true that these attackers often derive from existing domestic Bangladeshi militant groups, this does not meant that these individuals are not now affiliated with the Islamic State's global movement. Indeed, the fact that the attackers may have had such links to extant local militant groups strengthens recent observations that the Islamic State is succeeding in becoming an effective umbrella group for many smaller jihadist groups worldwide, including in South Asia, as well as a significant ideological lodestar for jihadists globally.

Confusing the issue further, the Bangladeshi government has also sought to use the recent series of attacks to score points against their political rivals, most notably in a series of bizarre statements about the fatal attack on the Italian NGO worker in Dhaka and the Japanese aid worker in Rangpur. For instance, on October 28, the Joint General Secretary of the country's ruling Awami League Party said that the orders for the targeted killing of the two foreigners "came from London," an apparent reference to leadership of the its archrival, opposition Bangladesh National Party, some of whom are based in London (Daily Star [Dhaka], October 28). More troubling, this highly unlikely accusation was also repeated by the investigating police authorities, who said that the "big brother" said to have funded that attacks had wanted "to take advantage by creating unrest in the country" (Dhaka Tribune, October 27). The statements underline the challenges that Bangladesh faces, firstly in correctly identifying the recent attacks as being rooted in an emerging link-up between local jihadist groups and the Islamic State, and secondly in tacking effective action against this emerging-and clearly potent-nexus.