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| Afghanistan/South Asia |
| Inside Bangla’s Jihadi Groups - Gained experience overseas |
| 2005-08-25 |
| First in a series being run by the Daily Star A deep pocket filled by oil rich hands, virtually unrelenting access to arms, an insidious nexus with mainstream political parties and the government's blind eye to them -- the deadly concoction that have made it possible for the religious terrorist groups to thrive in Bangladesh. The Daily Star investigation spread over several months has found over 30 religious militant organisations have set up their network across the country since 1989 with the central objective of establishing an Islamic state. These militant organisations are Harkatul Jihad, Jama'atul Mujahideen Bangladesh (JMB), Jagrata Muslim Janata, Bangladesh (JMJB), Islami Biplobi Parishad, Shahadat Al Hiqma, Hizbut Towhid, Hizb-ut-Tahrir, Ahle Hadith Andolon, Towhidi Janata, Bishwa Islami Front, Juma'atul Sadat, Al Jomiatul Islamia, Iqra Islami Jote, Allahr Dal, Al Khidmat Bahini, Al Mujhid, Jama'ati Yahia Al Turag, Jihadi Party, Al Harkat al Islamia, Al Mahfuz Al Islami, Jama'atul Faladia, Shahadat-e-Nabuwat, Joish-e-Mostafa, Tahfize Haramaine Parishad, Hizbul Mojahedeen, Duranta Kafela and Muslim Guerrilla. Many of their activists are Afghanistan and Palestinian war veterans who fought there after receiving training in Pakistan, Libya and Palestine. After returning to Bangladesh, these militants scattered over the country and started militant activities since the early 1990s. Sources said over 200 Bangladeshi Jihadis were killed and 500 wounded in battles in Afghanistan, Lebanon and Palestine. I'd expect many of these are sisters orgs to the Pak Jihadis, certainly the bewildering number of groups with an identical ideology seem inspired by their western cousins. When they returned from foreign frontiers, a number of them set up madrasas as cover, mainly toeing the Qwami line, which is the more orthodox system of Islamic education and needs no government registration. They chose the forests of the Chittagong Hill Tracts, mosques and the Qwami madrasas mainly in the north to train their activists. They also set up their network in Dhaka, starting from Kamrangir-char, and later spreading to Kafrul, Adabar, Shekhertek, Basila and Demra. Operating under different names, the groups maintain close contact with each other. Although the intelligence agencies had made various reports on these militant groups and recommended their bans, the government remained mysteriously silent since 2002. Rather, some militants arrested at various places with evidence of subversive activities got free as the cases against them were not properly pursued. The conservative BNP government and her Islamist allies are soft on the Jihadis, if you read all those Crossfire reports, the RAB almost exlusively targets left-wing extremists - the opposition Awami League being seen as close to the leftists. In the wake of the recent bomb blasts, The Daily Star investigation found most JMB and JMJB leaders were in the past members of the Islami Chhatra Shibir (ICS), the student front of ruling coalition partner Jamaat-e-Islami Bangladesh. Sources said the militants hide their identity by using the names of different organisations. Many have joined the Tablighi Jamaat, the religious movement supposed to be non-violent and non-political. Whenever the militant groups come under police suspicion, they quickly change name to continue their activities. The JMB is a case in point that has so far changed names 18 times, intelligence sources said. By their own claims, the militant groups have some 10 lakh (one hundred thousand) members across the country. An intelligence report says about 80,000 of them took training in arms and explosives. Only the JMB has 10,000 full-timers, 1lakh part-timers and 10 lakh trainees. JMJB leader Bangla Bhai on May 12 last year claimed in an interview with The Daily Star that he has over 30,000 activists working in 57 districts. Harkat-ul Jihad (Huji) has over 25,000 trained activists, according to some Huji men. But intelligence source says the claim is exaggerated and the organisation has around 15,000 members who are now working for different Islamic parties after crackdown on the group in 1999. Each group has various wings -- the largest looking after publicity and recruitment, the wing that takes armed training is comparatively small. Another branch works as 'intelligence wing', mixing up with the common people and activists of other parties and attending political and cultural programmes. |
| Posted by:Paul Moloney |
| #2 The RAB rarely |
| Posted by: Seafarious 2005-08-25 08:38 |
| #1 Paul, you are a treasure! |
| Posted by: trailing wife 2005-08-25 03:06 |