Major Extremist and Terrorist Incidents

July 2016 Hostage Crisis

On the evening of July 1, 2016, five Islamist militants stormed into Holey Artisan Bakery, an upscale restaurant in the Gulshan neighborhood of Dhaka, and detonated explosives before separating the Muslim and local Bangladeshi hostages from the non-Muslims and foreigners. After a 12-hour siege, Bangladeshi security forces stormed the restaurant in the early hours of July 2 and freed 13 hostages. The officials found 20 hostages hacked and stabbed to death, including Italian, Japanese, Indian, and U.S. citizens. Four militants and two police officers were killed over the course of the incident, and one militant was arrested. (Sources: Reuters, Dhaka Tribune, CNN, BBC News, BBC News)

The July 1 restaurant attack is reportedly the 24th ISIS attack in Bangladesh since September 2015, and the most deadly in a spate of terror attacks in Bangladesh this year. Some U.S. officials claimed that the assault bore the hallmark of al-Qaeda’s regional affiliate, al-Qaeda in the Indian Subcontinent, ISIS claimed responsibility for the attack. In October 2016, ISIS released an online article providing a detailed narrative of the attack in its Rumiyah magazine. The article—claimed to be penned by ISIS’s deceased leader in Bangladesh—referred to the assailants as “five shahadah knights” and the bakery as a “Crusader-owned restaurant.” (Sources: Guardian, Dhaka Tribune, NPR, Times of India, CNN, Hindu BusinessLine, Dhaka Tribune, Reuters, Rumiyah)

On March 2, 2017, Bangladeshi police arrested the head of a militant Islamic group believed to be responsible for inspiring the perpetrators of the July 2016 Dhaka attack. Shaikh Mohammad Abul Kashem, who founded an offshoot of the larger JMB group, is said to have worked alongside the two men accused of masterminding the attack. (Source: Reuters)

Murders of Secular Bloggers and Activists

Since 2013, assailants—often operating on behalf of local al-Qaeda and ISIS affiliates—have murdered dozens of activists, secular bloggers, religious minorities, and foreigners. Many of these attacks have been carried out by machete or other sharp weapons, according to police and witness accounts. In some cases, assailants are believed to have used guns to murder their targets. (Sources: CNN, Guardian, VICE News, New York Times)

In 2016 alone, there have already been several high-profile murders claimed by al-Qaeda or ISIS.

The first such murder dates back to February 2013, when assailants killed Bangladeshi blogger Ahmed Rajib Haider. At the time, Haider had been covering the Shahbag protests, wherein an estimated 100,000-500,000 Bangladeshis gathered in Dhaka’s Shahbag square to call for the death sentence for Abdul Quader Molla, an Islamist war criminal and former member of the JeI party. On February 15, 2013, Haider—who was known to criticize Islam under the pen name Thaba Baba—was found murdered near his home in Dhaka, his body littered by machete wounds, according to Bangladeshi police. (Sources: Guardian, Guardian)

On February 20, 2017, the Dhaka Metropolitan Police counterterrorism unit arrested 34-year-old Redwanul Azad Rana, a former student at the country’s top North South University and an alleged accomplice in connection to Haider’s murder. Rana had been sentenced to death in absentia in connection to the murder. (Source: Indian Express)

Since the Shahbag protests, the country has witnessed dozens of murders targeting secular bloggers, activists, religious minorities, and foreigners. In September 2015, the AQIS-affiliated ABT group issued a hit list on secular bloggers, writers, and activists, which included both domestic and foreign-based targets, including nine bloggers based in the United Kingdom, seven in Germany, two in the United States, one in Canada, and one in Sweden. (Source: Guardian)

Since January 2015, police say there have been more than 40 such murders. In 2016 alone, several high-profile murders were claimed by al-Qaeda or ISIS. These include the July 1 murder of Hindu priest Shyamanondo Das, the April 25 murders of U.S. embassy employee and LGBT activist Xulhaz Mannan and his colleague Mahbub Tonoy, and the May 6 murder of Sufi leader Mohammad Shahidullah, among others. In addition to the spate of hacking murders, the country has also experienced a series of bomb, hostage, and other terrorist attacks, often carried out by local terror groups claiming affiliation with al-Qaeda or ISIS. (Sources: Guardian, Dhaka Tribune, NPR, CNN, Guardian, BBC News, Guardian)

Domestic Counter-Extremism

Bangladesh pursues multiple strategies in an effort to address the threat of domestic extremism and terrorism. With the help of international organizations and local religious scholars, the Hasina government has also launched grassroots and counter-narrative programs at the community level. (Sources: New York Times, Guardian, Dhaka Tribune, Jamestown Foundation)

Legislation and Law Enforcement

Bangladeshi law enforcement has primary responsibility for thwarting extremist and terrorist activity in the country. Mass arrests after terrorist incidents have allowed law enforcement to gain intelligence and arrest suspected terrorist operatives. These arrests have often targeted suspected members of violent extremist groups—including the JMB and ABT—as well as banned Islamist organizations—including the JeI and HT. On June 13, 2016, Bangladeshi law enforcement conducted a massive series of arrests in response to murders targeting secularists, religious minorities, and foreigners. As many as 14,000 individuals were detained in the sweep. (Sources: New York Times, Guardian, Dhaka Tribune, Diplomat)

Bangladeshi police have since continued to conduct arrests and raids targeting domestic terrorists. On July 26, 2016, Bangladeshi forces arrested one Islamist militant and killed nine others during a raid in Dhaka’s Kalyanpur area. On August 27, police raided a JMB safe house in the Paikpara area of Narayanganj district, killing three Islamist militants, including the allegedly mastermind of the July 1, 2016, attack in Gulshan. On October 8, members of a Bangladeshi counterterrorism unit killed at least seven JMB Islamists residing in a two-story building in the Patartek area of Gazipur district. (Sources: Daily Star, South Asia Terrorism Portal, Daily Star, Dhaka Tribune, South Asia Terrorism Portal, Astro Awani)

In January 2017, Bangladeshi forces arrested Jahangir Alam, suspected of being a key planner of the Dhaka attack, a week after another planner, Nurul Islam Marzan, was killed in a shootout with police. In February 2017, police raided a house in the northern city of Bogra and killed Abu Musa (alias Abu Jar), believed to have been a close aide to one of the masterminds of the Dhaka attack. Musa was also wanted for the murders of two businessmen, one a Muslim and the other Christian, claimed by ISIS. Later in the month, police targeted and killed Aminur Islam, the northern regional commander of JMB’s military wing who was alleged to have previously stabbed two police officers. (Sources: PTI, Indian Express, CNN, New York Times)

In 2015, Bangladeshi Prime Minister Hasina attempted to push the U.K. government to act against British-based recruiters and facilitators with ties to Bangladeshi terror groups. The Prime Minister said that the “Jamaat -e-Islami [Bangladesh’s leading Islamist party] has a strong influence in east London. That’s true. They are collecting money, they are sending money” to Bangladesh. (Source: Guardian)

In addition to prosecutorial efforts to counter violent extremism, Bangladesh also addresses extremism using legislation and enhanced border security. The government has also instated new terror financing laws to curb money flowing to extremist organizations in the country. 

In 2009, the newly elected Awami League party, led by Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, created a 17-member umbrella organization known as the National Committee on Militancy Resistance and Prevention. The committee, which sought to drum up public support against extremism, was led by the State Minister for Home Affairs, and included members from various ministries and security agencies. 

The Community Support Mechanism was formed in 2015 through the Global Fund for Community Engagement and Resilience (GCERF). The GCERF is a public-private global fund that helps to finance grassroots counter violent extremism (CVE) efforts. GCERF supported the CSM program in Bangladesh by funding a program that allowed local imams and religious scholars to create public awareness programs against extremism with the country’s Ministry of Religious Affairs and National Committee on Militancy Resistance and Prevention. According to a report by the U.S. State Department, counter-narrative messaging from religious leaders has also helped police develop a plan to counter extremist propaganda. (Source: 2015 U.S. State Department Country Report)

Bangladesh’s focus on countering extremism has resulted in the dismantling of some extremist training camps along the Indian border. Authorities have also continued to arrest suspected foreign terrorists who were allegedly attempting to enter Bangladesh, including purported JMB leaders. The Bangladeshi government hopes that without its key leaders, the JMB will become too weak to continue engaging in violence in the country. (Sources: South Asian Terrorism Portal, U.S. State Department Country Report)

Bangladesh continues to implement new standards to its criminal justice system based on the 2012 and 2013 amendments to its Antiterrorism Act of 2009 (ATA). Bangladesh does not legally prohibit “recruitment and travel in furtherance of terrorism,” but the U.S. State Department notes that the ATA, as written, does provide “several mechanisms” for Bangladesh to enforce UN Security Council resolutions that address combatting terrorism. (Source: 2015 U.S. State Department Country Report)

On April 5, 2018, the Government of Bangladesh formed the first two anti-terrorism special tribunals in Dhaka and Chittagong. Although Bangladesh’s ATA does not specifically address foreign terrorist fighters, Bangladesh has arrested and charged suspected fighters or facilitators of migrant fighters under existing laws. (Source: U.S. Department of State)