Spotlight on Bangladesh as terrorism swells

The taking of hostages by gunmen in Dhaka’s diplomatic area is the latest in a string of attacks that have sparked international alarm and prompted the United States and Bangladesh to promise more cooperation against violent extremism in the Muslim-majority nation.

But the two governments still tiptoe around the divisive issue of whether transnational terror groups like ISIS are involved in the mounting bloodshed, which has included a wave of killings of liberals, foreigners and religious minorities.

The identities of the attackers in Dhaka on Friday were not known, but ISIS claimed its fighters carried out the assault, issuing a statement through its media arm, Amaq, that was reported by the monitoring group Site.

ISIS and Al Qaida affiliates have claimed responsibility for many of the previous attacks, typically by smaller groups of machete-wielding assailants, that have claimed nearly two dozen lives since 2013. The frequency of attacks has increased in recent months.

The violence has stoked fears over the rise of radic-alism in the traditionally moderate country and cast a shadow over the achievements of its 160 million pe-ople in economic development and fighting poverty.

Bangladesh’s government has blamed domestic groups aligned with political opposition parties, and maintains that groups like ISIS and Al Qaida have no presence in the country. The US has voiced growing concern over the violence.