Risk intelligence (14/05/2021) - Bangladesh
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MILITANT GROUP AIMS TO STRENGTHEN RECRUITMENT DRIVE
According to documents obtained by the police’s Counter Terrorism and Transnational Crime (CTTC), the radical militant group, Ansar al-Islam, intends to recruit youth from high schools, madrasahs, universities, Islamic parties, and other insurgent organisations.
According to the police, the group was looking to recruit people who were intellectually and politically astute and could make good use of time and opportunity. The revelation also indicates that Ansar al-Islam was trying to create a strong grassroot level support network with the help of social media that has impressive penetration among educated minds.
While the country's intelligence gathering capabilities have improved over time, especially since the July 2016 Dhaka attack, online radicalisation and recruitment continue to be an issue. Efficient use of cyberspace has allowed the new-age jihadists to reach out to the young generation like never before.
Recruitment and funding are two key aspects that help any extremist organisation. While controlling external funding remains a major challenge, funds raised through domestic fronts are also difficult to detect, particularly because they are usually intertwined in a larger and deep-rooted economic environment that often involve legitimate business activities.
All stakeholders will need to adopt a multifaceted approach which aims to enhance political/social inclusion and seeks to bring in disenfranchised groups into the mainstream, undermining radical recruitment. Moreover, authorities will also need to maintain vigil on cyberspace without raising concerns of privacy infringement, which remains a major challenge for anti-terror agencies not only in Bangladesh but across the world due to trust deficit between citizens and government establishments, especially the police.
Four terror suspects arrested in Dhaka
The Counter Terrorism and Transnational Crime (CTTC) unit of the police in Dhaka recently arrested four people from the capital over their alleged involvement in a terror plot to attack police and Border Guards Bangladesh (BGB) patrols in Dhaka and Sylhet.
The four accused were suspected members of the banned militant outfit Ansar al-Islam.
According to police officials, the suspects surveyed various spots for their planned attacks. According to the police officials, two of their members have already moved to Afghanistan, while the rest planned to flee to the country after some violent attacks in Bangladesh.
Police arrested them from the Basila neighbourhood in Dhaka’s Mohammadpur. The members of the group were trying to make explosive devices using oxygen cylinders. One of the arrested members has claimed that he is a part of the sub-continental wing of al-Qaeda, though authorities have not yet been able to verify the claim. Recently, members of the outfit allegedly stabbed the manager of a hotel in Sylhet following the directive from their high-ups.
Hill and Associates observation
Ansar al-Islam is an extremist outfit which was banned by the government of Bangladesh for the brutal murders of several secular activists and atheist bloggers in the country that sparked a security crackdown on extremists. The ban was enforced as members of previously outlawed Ansarullah Bangla Team (ABT) regrouped under the banner of Ansar al-Islam.
The group is known to broadcast hate speeches and extremist videos to motivate its members, including online-based action plans.
The members have in the past used social media as a platform to incite militancy.
Earlier in May, two suspected Ansar al-Islam militants were arrested by Bangladesh’s Rapid Action Battalion (RAB), from Pallabi and Shibalaya areas of Manikganj, near Dhaka.