Dhaka attack’s aftermath: Fresh IS threats spread panic

Meanwhile, three Bangladeshis fighting for IS in Syria released a new video on July 6 threatening more attacks in Bangladesh and urging Muslims to join their jihad. Around 2:30pm on July 4, a seven months pregnant woman sustained severe injuries during a stampede that ensued due to a sudden security check at the entrance. She died at a hospital on July 6.

Militants have launched a ISIS-style news agency in Bangla, to back up their violent campaign with ‘information warfare’. The news agency Al Tamkin has been successfully blocked by Bangladesh cyber-intelligence, but the militants have also come up with a Bangla version of the ISIS-backed news agency Amaq.  Both Al Tamkin and Amaq in Bangla can be accessed in India. The militants are releasing propaganda material aimed at radicalisation of young Bengali Muslims in Bangladesh and neighbouring Indian states through these two sites, Indian external intelligence agency RAW and West Bengal police intelligence have both alerted Delhi to the dangers posed by these news agencies.

Ten days have passed since the most dreadful carnage in the country’s history claimed at least 22 lives at a Gulshan eatery in Dhaka on July 1. All but one attackers were killed in a raid the following day, but now the police say they have got no clue about the masterminds. Investigators, however, claimed that they had made much progress in the case, and were working to identify and arrest the masterminds based on statements of the hostages and information gleaned from suspects.

The US Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) has reportedly started assisting Bangladesh law enforcing agencies in the investigation. ‘The FBI has an office in Bangladesh. A senior government official told the media that FBI is providing support to the Gulshan terror attack.

The police and the RAB investigators are now looking for local link to the July 7 militant attack on a police checkpoint near Sholakia Eid congregation in Kishoreganj that left two policemen, a housewife and a suspected attacker killed and 13 including 12 police personnel injured. Police, meanwhile, lodged a case Sunday afternoon in connection with the incident naming two detained people – Md Shariful Islam alias Shafiul Islam alias Saiful Islam, 22, son of Abdul Hai of village Raniganj under Ghoraghat in Dinajpur and Jahidul Huq alias Tanim, 24, son of Abdus Sattar of Paschim Tarapasha under Kishoreganj sadar.

Around two hundred Bangladeshi youths are still missing for last few months and experts suspect missing youths are probably fell prey to radicalization and left for the Middle Eastern countries. Masudur Rahman, Deputy Commissioner (media) of Dhaka Metropolitan Police (DMP), told newsmen: “We are searching missing persons who are absent from these families.” Brigadier General (retd) M Sakhawat Hossain, who is also a former Election Commissioner, said, I think this number of missing youth varies from 100 to 150. The three Bangladeshi youths who appeared in the latest ISIS video threatening of more terror attacks around the world have been identified as a dentist, an aspiring singer and an MBA student, officials said on July 7. Model Naila Nayem’s former husband Tushar is one of the three youths who appeared in a so-called Islamic State video released on July 6. Late Bangladesh Army major Washikur Azad’s son Tushar (with longer beards in the video) married Nayem in 2011 but later they separated, bdnews24 reported.

In the wake of the attacks in Dhaka and Sholakia Eidgah in Kishoreganj, the Indian high commission, the US, French and South Korean embassies have sought security from the government for their staff, families and business establishments in Bangladesh.

The United States on Sunday renewed its offer to provide Bangladesh with expertise and technical supports in building capabilities on ‘counterterrorism’ and to contain extremism. The US delegation visiting Dhaka last week led by Nisha Desai Biswal focused on areas including finding out new strategies for countering terrorism. Bangladesh foreign secretary announced that the government ‘is positive’ in accepting supports from willing countries but the question is what will be the modalities. The US embassy in Dhaka said in a release that Biswal offered US expertise including technological and technical supports in building Bangladesh’s ‘counterterrorism’ capabilities.

Following the worst-ever terror attack in the country, Dhaka found global powers, including the US, Russia, UK, China, India and others offering their support to Bangladesh in the global fight against the evils of terrorism and extremism. US Secretary of State John Kerry, who made a phone call to Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina on July 3, offering immediate assistance from the US law enforcement agencies, including the FBI. Nisha Desai Biswal and High Commissioner of India to Bangladesh Harsh Vardhan Shringla had a meeting at the residence of the US ambassador.

In the backdrop of the latest terrorists’ attack in Dhaka, Global Human Rights Commission of Canada has urged the United Nations and the Western countries to stop all their business, all their financial grants, support and trade with Bangladesh effective immediately. “Kindly Note: We have raised this terrorist attack of Dhaka to the United Nation, Foreign Ministry of Canada, United Kingdom, Italy, France, Australia and Germany to stop all their business, stop all their Financial Grants/ Support/ Trade with Bangladesh effective immediately,” reads a recently issued statement of Global Human Rights Commission of Canada.

The government has decided to ban broadcast of Peace TV, a channel run by controversial Islamic preacher Zakir Naik, in Bangladesh, after allegations that he inspired acts of terrorism. The Cabinet committee on law and order took the decision in a special meeting last Sunday, Industries Minister Amir Hossain Amu, who heads the panel, told reporters.

Terrorist attacks may erode investor confidence that could cast an adverse impact on Bangladesh’s ability to attract Foreign Direct Investment (FDI), global credit-rating agency Moody’s said. “It was the most damaging of a series of attacks targeting foreigners and minorities over the past year, and highlighted political risks that are factored into our government bond rating, through our assessment that Bangladesh’s vulnerability to political event risks is moderate,” the US-based Moody’s Investors Service said in its latest analysis, released last Monday.

Hospitality and tourism sectors are taking the heat of terrorist attacks in Gulshan, with foreigners cancelling their scheduled trips to Bangladesh for security fears, tour and hotel operators said. The biggest example is the cancellation of an international event on telecommunication, scheduled to be held in Dhaka from September 29 to October 6. About 450 foreign nationals were supposed to attend the event, which has now been shifted to Thailand. As per the planned programme, the Internet Service Providers Association Bangladesh booked 150 rooms and three conference halls at Amari Dhaka from September 29 to October 2 to facilitate the event and foreign guests. The organiser also booked 450 rooms and four conference halls at Le Meridien Dhaka from October 3 to 6.

Textile industry feared that this may have adverse impact on textile and RMG sector. “Those who were killed or injured in the terrorist attacks at Gulshan restaurant were involved with various development projects of the country and buyers of the garment. Bangladesh Textile Mills Association in a statement said it may create negative impression about Bangladesh, affecting this sector.

The writer is a Dhaka-based freelance journalist

Source: Weekly Holiday