AQIS head of Bangladesh affairs killed in Afghanistan

Tariq alias Sohel, the “chief” of the Bangladeshi affairs of al-Qaeda in the Indian Subcontinent (AQIS), and five of his accomplices were killed in Afghanistan's Qandahar, says a statement purportedly from the top leader of the terror outfit.

The statement, uploaded on early Wednesday on Telegram, a cloud-based instant messaging service, however, does not say when and how the militants were killed.

It also does not say whether the five accomplices of Sohel were Bangladeshis. They are Qari Abdul Aziz alias Abdul Halim, Yaqub alias Saddam Hossain, Asadullah alias Nazimuddin Maimoon, Abu Ibrahim alias Saiful Islam Hasan and Abu Bakr alias Anuj Hasib.

The 13-page statement, titled “Behold”, is said to be a transcript of an audio message from the “top AQIS leader Asim Omer”. The alleged chief of the Bangladeshi affairs of AQIS and his five companions were mentioned only in a paragraph.

The statement was also published in al-Qaeda's media production house “As-Sahab Media”, with a photograph of Sohel, said Bangladeshi law enforcement members.

This newspaper could not independently verify the authenticity of the statement.

Asked, Assistant Inspector General (confidential) of the Police Headquarters Mohammad Moniruzzaman said they had no information about Sohel and the five other men.

“We are looking into the matter and verifying the information,” Moniruzzaman, who deals with the crimes related to militancy, told The Daily Star yesterday. He has been assigned to maintain communications with the Afghan police on the matter.

He said the information was scanty and it seemed the photograph used in the statement was old.

Contacted, several officials from the Counter Terrorism and Transnational Crime (CTTC) unit of Dhaka Metropolitan Police also said they had no information about Sohel and the five others.

The statement was uploaded on Telegram early Wednesday, said sources in Bangladeshi law enforcement agencies.

Sohel's death was first learnt from a video released by As-Sahab Media last month, as mentioned by Ansar al-Islam members in Dawahilallah online forum. Ansar al-Islam is believed to be the Bangladesh chapter of AQIS.

Maj (dismissed) Syed Ziaul Haque is the only known top ranking leader of Ansar al-Islam and the operational wing chief of the outfit.

On several occasions, Home Minister Asaduzzaman Khan Kamal said Zia could be arrested any time as he was under surveillance of law enforcers.

Mufti Jasim Uddin Rahmani, the alleged founder and spiritual leader of Ansarullah Bangla Team (now Ansar al-Islam), has been in jail since August 2013.

Osama bin Laden's successor, Egyptian Islamist ideologue Ayman al-Zawahiri, announced the formation of AQIS in September 2014 to carry the group's fight to India, Pakistan and Bangladesh.

Ansarullah Bangla Team (ABT), which allegedly started targeted killings of war crimes trial campaigners and secularists in 2013, was banned in 2015 after Ansar al Islam/AQIS claimed responsibilities for several murders of freethinkers, atheist bloggers and publishers in Bangladesh.

The group has so far claimed responsibility for 13 attacks in which 11 individuals including writers and bloggers, one publisher and two LGBT activists were killed.