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Overview of the Islamic State's activity in Bangladesh From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Islamic State – Bengal Province [lower-alpha 1] (IS-BP) is an administrative division of the Islamic State, a Salafi jihadist militant group. The group was announced by ISIL as its province in 2016.[4] The first emir of Wilayat al-Bengal, Abu Ibrahim al-Hanif, is believed to be Mohammad Saifullah Ozaki (born as Sajit Chandra Debnath, 1982) a Bangladeshi Japanese economist who went to Syria in 2015 and joined IS. A Hindu convert to Islam, he reportedly led the 2016 Dhaka attack. He was detained in Iraq in 2019 and Abu Muhammed al-Bengali was announced as the new emir of the province.[5][6]
| Islamic State – Bengal Province | |
|---|---|
| ইসলামিক স্টেট – বঙ্গ প্রদেশ | |
 Logo of the Bengal Province | |
| Leaders | Shaykh Abu Ibrahim al-Hanif (2015-2019) Abu Muhammed al-Bengali (2019-20??) Abu Abbas al-Bengali (20??-present) |
| Dates of operation | 2015 – Present, largely inactive since 2020 |
| Headquarters | Bangladesh |
| Active regions | Bangladesh |
| Ideology | Islamic Statism |
| Size | unknown |
| Part of |  Islamic State |
| Opponents | |
| Battles and wars | Internal conflict in Bangladesh |
Neo-Jamaat-ul-Mujahideen Bangladesh, an offshoot of Jamaat-ul-Mujahideen Bangladesh (Al-Qaeda affiliated), effectively operates as the main IS branch in Bangladesh.[6]
It has been designated as a Foreign Terrorist Organization under the SDN by the United States Department of the Treasury's Office of Foreign Assets Control, with addresses in Dhaka, Rangpur, Sylhet and Jhenaidah.[7] It has also been designated as a terrorist organization by Canada.[8]
ISIL activity originated in Iraq, and has spread from the Middle East to the African countries of Egypt, Mali and Somalia; South Asian countries such as Bangladesh, Pakistan and India, and southeast Asian countries such as Indonesia and the Philippines. The group aims to retake Greater Khorasan, a historical region which covers Afghanistan and part of Central Asia. The Khorasan branch of ISIL is based in South Asia.[9]
The terrorist organisation has used social unrest, the dissolution of language barriers, and local underground support to recruit South Asian militants for global jihad. The flow of Rohingya Muslim refugees from Myanmar has been targeted for recruitment by ISIL when the refugees enter Bangladesh.[10][11] Some of these refugees are also targeted and supported by Bangladesh Jamaat-e-Islami (BJeI), the country's largest Islamist political party.
In 2002, the Bangladeshi extremist group Jamatul Mujahideen Bangladesh (JMB) formed a committee in Malda City, India. JMB is the most active extremist group in Bangladesh, and has linked itself to ISIL.[11] The group exploited permeable borders between India and Bangladesh to transport explosives, and are believed to be responsible for the Bardham bombing near the India-Bangladesh border in 2014. JMB, which was funded and militarized by the Taliban in the AfPak region before receiving ISIL support,[12] targets minorities in Bangladesh.[11]
Attacks inspired by ISIL have occurred across South Asia, including Quetta, Pakistan, Kabul, Afghanistan and Dhaka, Bangladesh. Youths from these countries have increasingly travelled from South Asia to Syria and Iraq.[9] ISIL influences, recruits, strategises and organises with social media.[13] Indian cells of ISIL have been identified by Indian forces in Madhya Pradesh, Kalyan, Kerala, Hyderabad, and Uttar and Madhya Pradesh. ISIL is most present in India through online social networks. The group has also attempted to infiltrate the unstable union territory of Jammu and Kashmir, a region disputed by India and Pakistan for religious and territorial reasons.[14]
Bangladesh is a secular democracy with a majority-Muslim population and a low median standard of living. Since its independence from Muslim Pakistan in 1971, Islamic extremism and the push for a united Islamic state across the subcontinent has been a catalyst for homegrown action and international interest in Bangladesh.[10] Bombings, shootings and stabbings have been claimed by ISIL, targeting Westerners and other foreigners and Shia Muslims. Most attacks in Bangladesh are made by proxy groups later claimed (or attributed) to ISIL, and the amount of direct ISIL influence is unclear.[15]
In June 2014, ISIL declared themselves a worldwide caliphate with Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi as their leader.[16] That August, ISIL distributed a video of Bengalis pledging allegiance to the group in Bengali.[17][12] Bangladesh was not included in the group's five-year plan published that year, despite its being a Muslim-majority country.[18] Since 2015, the government of Bangladesh has adopted a vocal, zero-tolerance policy towards terrorism and Islamic extremism.[19] ISIL has admitted targeting (and attacking) secular Bangladeshis, Shia Muslims, foreigners, bloggers and other individuals who oppose their goal.[10] The group has a sizable online presence in Bangladesh through social media, and a growing physical influence (despite government denial).[12]
Domestic terrorist organizations are increasingly active with the support of transnational organizations such as ISIL, both physically and online through social media. Since 2013, over 40 vocal secularists have been murdered by these homegrown groups.[12] According to JMB and ISIL, JMB members were acting on ISIL's behalf in Bangladesh. The group recruits in wealthy areas of Dhaka (such as Banani) and in places where youths gather for studying and coaching.[11] The Bangladeshi government calls the group the "neo-JMB".[20]
During the first six months of 2016, ISIL carried out eleven attacks throughout Bangladesh. They launched religiously-motivated attacks against Hindus in Bonpara, Dhaka, Jhenaidah and Rangpur, Christians in Bonpara, Rangpur and Kushtia District, and targeted a Buddhist leader in Jhenaidah.[39]
Despite many attacks attributed to ISIL by police and claimed by the organization, the government denies its presence in Bangladesh[12][10] and has been slow to react to homegrown threats. One reason for the denial is Bangladesh's position as home to the world's second-largest garment industry (after China). Terrorist attacks and a government-confirmed ISIL presence might damage foreign trust in the country, affecting travel and trade.[60]
JMB leader Bangla Bhai was hanged in 2007 for murder. The group has been announced as an ISIL branch in Bangladesh, despite the government's denial of an ISIL presence in the country.[12] The United States Office of Foreign Assets Control and the State Department have identified an "ISIS-Bangladesh", citing the 2015 murder of Tavella Cesare and the July 2016 Dhaka attack as evidence of an ISIL presence in Bangladesh.[61][62]
The Bangladeshi government is enlisting international organizations and local community leaders to help alter local acceptance of Islamic extremist actions in the country.[12] Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina has asked other countries with ISIL activity in diaspora communities, such as the United Kingdom, to take preventive action against individuals who are radicalising communities and transplanting ideology (and militancy) back to Bangladesh; the diaspora community in England has proven ties to ISIL and JMB.[63]
To bolster governmental strength in Bangladesh, the country have cooperated with the United States to fortify their borders against bi-directional militant migration. The Bangladesh Coast Guard, Navy's Special Warfare and Diving Salvage unit and the army's 1st Para-Commando Battalion were trained by the U.S. Special Operations Command Pacific in 2015.[25]
Bangladesh's government has committed itself to the anti-terrorist movement, participating in the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation counter-terrorist protocols and adopting the stance and measures promoted by the UN Global Counter-Terrorism Strategy.[25] They are part of the Asia/Pacific Group on Money Laundering, which aims to thwart financing of militants and terrorist organizations. Although the Antiterrorism Act of 2009 does not explicitly outlaw recruitment and migration (fundamental to the spread of terrorism), legal action has been taken against individuals suspected of facilitating recruitment in Bangladesh and abroad.[58]
At January 7th 2023, Bengali police has arrested 2 men who was suspected to be part of ISIL at Howrah's Tikiapara area in Kolkata, after they was involved in spreading tentacles of the group. One of them admitted to having connections with ISIL functionaries in Pakistan and West Asia.[64]
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