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| Afghanistan/South Asia |
| Inside Bangla’s Jihadi Groups - Militants claim Jamaat-e-Islami background |
| 2005-08-27 |
| A number of militants who were arrested over time have revealed that they either belong to the Jamaat-e-Islami or its various wings or were past members. The most startling suspected Jamaat-militant link was unearthed at Khetlal of Joypurhat August 14, 2003. After an overnight gunfight at Jamaat activist Montejur Rahman's house, police arrested 39 suspected militants, 29 of whom confessed they were activists of Jamaat's student wing Islami Chhatra Shibir (ICS). They said the ICS assigned them to work for Jama'atul Mujahideen Bangladesh (JMB), linked to militant Abdur Rahman. In August 2003, Sohel, a student of Sunamganj Government College was arrested for links with the JMB. His brother Selim made the following statement to the press on August 23: "Shibir [ICS] turned my brother into an ultra-religious man and forced him to work for Jama'atul Mijahideen [JMB]." Other than Jamaat, some leaders of the ruling BNP also supported the militants, specially Bangla Bhai and his group Jagrata Muslim Janata, Bangladesh (JMJB) in the northern districts. Bangla Bhai himself was an active member of the ICS until 1995. When Bangla Bhai came into focus for his killings, a state minister, a deputy minister and a BNP lawmaker openly supported him and directed the local police to give Bangla Bhai shelter. According to a retired intelligence boss, many ICS cadres took part in the Afghan war during the 1980s and on return still maintain a network with different Afghan Mujahideen groups. Last November, three militants were arrested with 24 powerful gelatin bomb-sticks and 124 electronic detonators in Gaibandha from a Shantahar-bound train. All of them said they are ICS activists although Jamaat disowned them. On April 12 last year, when police were preparing to arrest some 80 militants who took shelter in a mosque in Shibganj in Sylhet, city Jamaat Amir Dr Shafiqur Rahman refrained police from the action. After his arrest in Debiganj in Panchgarh on February 23 last year, militant Azizul told police he was previously a member of the ICS and now a worker of the JMB. Samiul Al Siju and Fazlul Haq, both JMB militants, admitted after their arrest in Gangachura area in Rangpur on February 23 that they were active workers of the ICS. On July 19 this year, police arrested 11 suspected Islamist militants including an adherent of Bangla Bhai and two Rajshahi University (RU) students at their training camp at a newly constructed house at Puthiapara in Paba upazila. The team leader, Enamul, was an ICS member before he joined the JMJB nearly a year ago. Whenever any militant claims link to Jamaat, the party holds press conferences or issues statements to disclaim such connections. On August 20, Jamaat Aimr Moulana Matiur Rahman Nizami at a press conference said his party has no connection with militants. He said Jamaat does not believe in extremism and that such links are cooked up to malign the party. |
| Posted by:Paul Moloney |
| #1 All Muslim terror is mosque based. Ergo: close terror mosques. |
| Posted by: Vlad the Muslim Impaler 2005-08-27 02:18 |