B'desh releases list of 12 militant groups active on its soil

Warning that conspirators behind the Bangladesh Rifles' mutiny are still active, the government on Tuesday made public for the first time a list of 12 militant outfits, including Jamaatul Mujahideen and Harkatul Jihad al Islami (Huji), saying they may have a hand in the carnage.

The names of these groups were in the list of banned organisation released by the Home Ministry, which ordered tighter security vigil around all the key installations and sounded an intelligence alert for members of these groups.

Commerce Minister Col (Retd) Faruq Khan, who has been assigned with the charge of coordinating the investigations into the Bangladesh Rifles' mutiny, has said that some of these militant groups might have a hand in the carnage.

The other outfits named in the report were Hizbut Towhid, Ulama Anjuman al Bainat, Hizb-ut-Tahrir, Islami Democratic Party, Islami Samaj, Touhid Trust, Jagrata Muslim Janata Bangladesh, Shahadat-e al Hikma Party Bangladesh, Tamira Ar-Din Bangladesh (Hizb-e Abu Omar) and Allah Dal.

Of these, the government has already banned four outfits - JMB, HuJI, Jagrata Muslim Janata Bangladesh and Shahadat-e al Hikma. HuJi which is believed to have Pakistani links has been proscribed by the US State Department, which has labelled it as a global terrorist group.

But like Pakistan, most of these organisations resurface after renaming themselves at different times to carry out their aim of establishing Islamic rule.

These groups, the report said, had mushroomed only in the last 10 years and had carried out series of terror attacks in the country, claiming several hundred lives.

The order to intensify the security vigil has been issued by Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina who has also told various intelligence agencies to coordinate action against militant groups, her press secretary Abul Kalam Azad said.

The Home Ministry report was submitted to the Cabinet at a meeting chaired by Hasina yesterday, who however send it back to the ministry demanding more information about the militant networks, their modus operandi and funding sources.

Soon after coming to power, Hasina, who herself survived two assassination attempts from such groups, had issued orders to uproot militancy and track down their patrons and funding sources in line with her election pledges.

Her government later approved a tough anti-terrorism ordinance suggesting capital punishment of terrorists after speedy trials in special tribunals.

Six top JMB kingpins including its chief Shaikh Abdur Rahman were executed while HuJI chief Mufty Abdul Hannan and some other members of his group were arrested to face justice.