‘Bangla politics harming war on terror’

Terming Bangladesh as a sad example of a country living in denial, top Indian security officials have said that internal politics was immensely harming the war against terror in that country.

“Despite irrefutable proof to the contrary in the Friday night terror attack in an upscale Dhaka neighbourhood restaurant, the country’s home minister, Asaduzzaman Khan, has ruled out any role of the terror outfit ISIS and that is badly hurting the war on terror. The minister is saying that the hostage-takers belong to homegrown outfits like JMB (Jamaat-ul-Mujahideen Bangladesh),” a top counter-terror official told this newspaper.

“One has just to see two issues of “Dabiq”, the online propaganda magazine of the ISIS. In the 12th issue, the ISIS had announced that JMB is its affiliate in its Bengal province. The 14th issue carried an extensive interview of its “Emir” in Bengal, Shaykh Abu Ibrahim Al Hanif, where he threatens to wreak havoc across India, Bangladesh and Myanmar,” the official said.

On the other hand, Khan linked Pakistan’s spy agency ISI to the attack where 20 hostages — mostly foreigners, including an Indian girl — were hacked to death.

The Bangladesh ISIS chief had said in his interview: “It is an obligation upon us and the rest of the believers to join the camp of ‘iman’ (believers) and fight against the kafir (non-believers), striking them altogether from a single bow as well.”

The hostage-takers in the Dhaka attack on July 1 had even broadcast pictures and had live-tweeted their acts even as they claimed allegiance to ISIS. On Sunday, ISIS-affiliated digital outlets had posted pictures of the terrorists in the encounter proving that it was an ISIS operation where they used members of their affiliates.

Hossain Toufique Imam, the political advisor to Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, too told news agencies that the way in which the hostages were killed with machetes suggests a JMB role. “Pakistan’s ISI and Jamaat connection is well known... they want to derail the current government,” he said.

Another top Indian counter-terror official said: “Besides unconfirmed reports of many Bangladeshis having joined the ISIS in Iraq and Syria, we have information of at least 200 Bangladeshi-origin youth in Britain who have joined the terror outfit. They provided a lot of motivation to JMB cadres to operate under the ISIS umbrella.”

ISIS believes in the concept of the global “Ummah.”