Some from Bangladesh trying to join Taliban in Afghanistan: DMP chief
There has been a recent trend in Bangladesh in which the Taliban has appealed to people all over for joining the war in Afghanistan, Dhaka Metropolitan Police (DMP) Commissioner Md Shafiqul Islam said yesterday.
He said some people from Bangladesh have already been motivated to join the war with the militant group.
"We think some people have been caught in India, and some are trying to reach Afghanistan on foot in various ways," he said while talking to reporters after checking the overall security at Bangabandhu Memorial Museum at Dhanmondi 32.
He said militants have been continuing their activities online to recruit and motivate members.
He said all intelligence agencies of the government, including DMP, are active in this regard.
"Cyber technology has captivated the world, and militants are recruiting and encouraging people to use it. Recently, the Taliban has urged people to join the war in Afghanistan and some people, responding to their call, have left home. We just want to say the militants are active," said Shafiqul.
On Thursday, a team of Counter Terrorism and Transnational Crime (CTTC) unit of DMP arrested an alleged leader of a militant group who used to train people in making bombs, he said.
"We've succeeded in arresting the gang," Shafiqul Islam said.
The DMP boss said police are on high alert to ensure the foolproof security ahead of National Mourning Day.
"Though there's no security threat ahead of August 15, but we can't rule out any possibility."
"August 15 is an important day, and militants may try to carry out subversive activities in the two-kilometre area of the programme venue if they fail to carry out an attack on the location to draw attention of the international media. But we think no such incident will happen," he said.
People across the country will observe the National Mourning Day, the darkest chapter in the history of independent Bangladesh, today.
On this day in 1975, the nation's founding father Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman and most of his family members were assassinated by a cabal of military men.
The government, various socio-cultural, political and professional organisations, including ruling Awami League and its associate bodies, have chalked out programmes to observe the day.
At least three members of banned militant outfit Ansar Al Islam are said to have travelled to Afghanistan recently while many others are expressing their desire in closed online groups to reach the country, leaving law enforcers concerned, said counterterrorism officials while talking to The Daily Star recently.
Radicalised young people are already encouraged by the resurgence of Taliban in Afghanistan as it has already captured major parts of that country, they said.
Law enforcers have learnt from some arrested members of Ansar Al Islam, a pro-al Qaeda militant outfit, that at least three Bangladeshi youths have reached Afghanistan recently.
In the 1980s, many Bangladeshis, particularly madrasa students and teachers, went to Afghanistan to join the war against the forces of the then Soviet Union. They were trained in operating heavy arms and using grenades. After the Afghan war ended in 1992, many of them returned home and declared the launch of Harkat-ul-Jihad al-Islami (Huji) at a press conference in Dhaka on April 30, 1992.
According to different media reports, Taliban has reached within 11 kilometres of Kabul, the capital of Afghanistan.
Comments