Islamist Terrorism: Timeline (Terrorist Activities) -2004

According to The Daily Star, the Bangladesh Rifles (BDR) personnel arrested six terrorists and seized illegal arms and ammunition from their possession at Chunarughat in the Sylhet district on January 1. The seized arms include a .303 rifle with 9 bullets, a .9mm pistol and 11 bullets. All the arrested persons are from the Northeast Indian State of Tripura and were National Liberation Front of Tripura (NLFT) cadres, the report added. Read less...

Daily Star has reported that the Bangladesh Rifles (BDR) seized a large cache of weapons, including 32 anti-tank mines, six rocket launchers, 10 rocket launcher cell chargers, a grenade-firing bomb, 18 grenade-firing bomb chargers and equipment for 14 rocket launcher cells, after an encounter with some terrorists at Lemuchhari in the Bandarban district of Chittagong Hill Tracts (CHT) on January 1. The terrorists, with suspected links to Arakanese rebels in Myanmar, are reported to have escaped into the adjoining forest area following firing by the BDR personnel. A press release of the Bangladesh Home Ministry said that "It is suspected that the arms and ammunition were ... for subversive activities against the backdrop of gradually escalating situation in the CHT." No casualty has been reported in the encounter on both the sides. Read less...

A Daily Star report has indicated that on January 2, an Islamist fundamentalist alliance, Hifajate Khatme Nabuwat Andolon (HKNA or ‘the movement to conserve the right of the last prophet’), took an oath to launch a holy war (jihad) against Ahmadiyyas if the Government does not declare them as ‘non-Muslims’ by January 9. They claimed that Ahmadiyyas were heretics and were dishonouring Islam by identifying themselves as Muslims. Read less...

According to the Assam Tribune, a rocket-propelled grenade (RPG) fired by an unidentified gunman at an All Tripura Tiger Force (ATTF) hideout in the Bangladeshi capital Dhaka on January 2 is reported to have killed at least five ATTF terrorists and injured eight others. The ATTF chief Ranjit Debbarma is reported to be among those injured. Read less...

The Daily Star quoting Anandabazar Patrika of Kolkata reported that Petrapole immigration authorities of India have arrested an officer of the Bangladesh Navy suspecting him to be an agent of Pakistan’s external intelligence agency, Inter Services Intelligence (ISI). The arrested person has been identified as Shah Alam, who hails from Mayurganj village under Bagerhat Sadar sub-district in Bangladesh Read less...

Meanwhile, state minister for Home Lutfuzzaman Babar has denied reports that the crackdown had been launched at the request of India. He was quoted as saying that "It is not that we will launch operation if there is a request and refrain from doing so if there is no request. It is our government’s own stand. It is not for the first time that such operation has been launched." He also said that operations against insurgents along the frontier with India would continue. "If Indian insurgents are held during this operation they will be tried according to the law of the land," added Babar. Read less...

Separately, according to police sources three extremists belonging to unnamed underground groups were killed in intra-party rivalries in separate incidents at Santhia and Chatmohor in the Pabna district on January 3. Read less...

Separately, according to The Times of India, the Bangladesh High Commission in a statement in New Delhi has refuted charges leveled ‘‘by a section of the Indian press’’ that new camps had come up in Chittagong as baseless. While stating that Bangladesh had immediately sealed its borders following the launch of military operations in Bhutan, it added that "insurgents have no place in Bangladesh.’’ Read less...

The Independent reported on January 3 that Bangladesh has launched a crackdown on terrorists, irrespective of their nationality, in the border areas of Chittagong Hill Tracts (CHT) and greater Sylhet district. Operations are also reportedly underway in the Bandarban district of CHT following the seizure of a large cache of arms and ammunition on January 1. Read less...

The United News of India (UNI) quoting a vernacular newspaper Jugantar has reported that at least 34 suspected terrorists belonging to the United Liberation Front of Asom (ULFA) have been arrested from the Mohammadpur, Green Road and Gulshan areas of capital Dhaka during a raid on January 3. Their identity has not been disclosed thus far. The Bangladesh Home Ministry, has however, denied the report. Read less...

Daily Star quoting unnamed sources, said that after a high level meeting on January 4, the Home Ministry has asked security agencies to step up border security and also keep a watch on Dhaka to counter infiltration of Indian terrorists. The Ministry has also reportedly asked the agencies to strengthen security in the bordering areas of Cox's Bazaar, Bandarban, Rangamati, Khagrachhari and Sylhet. Read less...

The Independent has reported that the Ministry of Home on January 4 has strongly denied reports regarding recent arrests of some Indian terrorists in Dhaka, which were published by a section of the local press and Indian news media. While terming the reports as "false, baseless and concocted", the Home Ministry press release said that "no such incidents took place in the capital". Read less...

Daily Star has reported that the Bangladesh army has arrested six operatives of an unnamed armed group at Ramgarh in the Khagrachhari district and seized some weapons, including six single-barrel rifles and a light gun, from their possession. Read less...

Director General level border conference between Bangladesh Rifles (BDR) and the Border Security Force (BSF) of India begins in New Delhi on January 5, today. Both sides are expected to discuss cross-border firing, land dispute, illegal immigration, smuggling and trafficking in women and children. Read less...

During a bilateral meeting between Indian Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee and his Bangladeshi counterpart Khaleda Zia in Islamabad on the sidelines of the 12th South Asian Association for Regional Coopertion (SAARC) Summit on January 5, the latter reportedly assured India that it would never allow terrorist groups to use Bangladesh against any country. This response came after Premier Vajpayee reportedly drew her attention to the possibility of Indian terrorists escaping to Bangladesh following a crackdown on them in Bhutan. Premier Khaleda added that Bangladesh had already sealed its borders with additional forces. Read less...

In a press release issued from Rangamati on January 6, the Parbatya Chattagram Jana Sanghati Samity (PCJSS) announced a 120-hour road-blockade programme in the Chittagong Hill Tracts (CHT) from January 19 to press home its four-point demands. The demands include proper implementation of the 1997 CHT Peace Accord and cancellation of army presence under 'Operation Uttaran' and removal of all army, Ansar, Armed Police Battalion and VDP (Village Defence Police) camps from the region. Read less...

The Daily Star has reported that on the second day of the annual conference between the Bangladesh Rifles (BDR) and India’s Border Security Force (BSF) that began in New Delhi on January 6, Bangladesh has maintained that no terrorist groups from India’s Northeast operated from its soil. "We have no camps of any insurgent outfit in our territory," claimed Major General Mohammed Jahangir Alam Chowdhury, the BDR chief. "If you can pinpoint a single camp, I will personally ensure it is destroyed," he added. He has also reportedly asked the BSF Director General Ajay Raj Sharma to provide any map indicating areas that India alleges to have been used to run terrorist training camps. Meanwhile, the BSF has reportedly agreed to provide Bangladesh with the maps and other details regarding terrorist camps in that country. Read less...

The Daily Star on January 9 has reported that the Home Ministry has banned all publications of the Ahmadiyya Muslim Jamaat Bangladesh a day before the end of an ultimatum given by the anti-Ahmadiyya alliance Hifazate Khatme Nabuwat Andolon (HKNA), represented by Islami Oikya Jote (IOJ) leaders to declare the sect as ‘non-Muslims’. In a press release, the Ministry said that the ban was imposed "in view of objectionable materials in such (Ahmadiyya) publications, which hurt or might hurt the sentiments of the majority Muslim population of Bangladesh." The report quoting unnamed source says that the move is believed to be the first step towards declaring about hundred thousand Ahmadiyyas in the country ‘non-Muslims’. Reacting to the government decision, Missionary of Ahmadiyya Muslim Jamaat Bangladesh, Abdul Awal, has accused the government of bowing down to religious terrorists and violating the people's right to the freedom of expression as enshrined in the constitution. Read less...

Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) leaders on January 9 has criticised Communications Minister Nazmul Huda's speech during a recent conference of the Islami Chhatra Shibir (ICS) and asked him to clarify his position. In the conference, Huda reportedly said that the Jamaat-e-islami did not do any wrong by working for the integrity of Pakistan during the Liberation War in 1971. Read less...

On January 9, the Hifazate Khatme Nabuwat Andolon (HKNA) in Dhaka demanded enactment of a law in the next session of the Jatiya Sangsad (Parliament) to declare Ahmadiyyas as ‘non-Muslims’, the Daily Star reported. The Amir (leader) of the alliance, Mahmudul Hasan Mamtazi, along with his other associates has reportedly threatened the Government if it does not declare the Ahmadiyyas ‘non-Muslims’ constitutionally. The leaders also declared that their agitation would continue until their other demands were met. Read less...

The annual conference of the Border Security Force (BSF) and its Bangladesh counterpart, the Bangladesh Rifles (BDR), ended in New Delhi on January 9 without arriving at a consensus on the issue of number of terrorist camps in Bangladesh. A media report quoted the BSF Director General Ajai Sharma as saying that he has given BDR a list of 194 camps, which is an increase from the last time the two sides met. The report mentions the Indian intelligence agencies as claiming that almost 40 new camps have been added to the earlier list. However, Bangladesh while denying the claim has alleged that India was operating 39 terrorist camps on its soil. Read less...

According to The Times of India, the United People's Democratic Front (UPDF), a Bangladeshi group that has reportedly fought a long guerrilla war in the Chittagong Hill Tracts has denied the claim of chief of the Bangladesh Rifles that it has camps in Indian territory. The BDR director general Major General Jahangir Alam Choudhary had made the claim in New Delhi during border talks with India. The report quotes a UPDF press release from Dhaka on January 11 as saying that the UPDF was a "democratic party that has been directing the struggle for autonomy in the Chittagong Hill Tracts through systematic means and with support and assistance of the people." It ruled out the existence of any insurgent camps run by UPDF in the northeastern Indian states of Assam, Mizoram, Tripura or in any other part of India. Read less...

Separately, the Daily Star has reported that four civil society organisations on January 11 served a legal notice on the government for issuing a press release 'banning wholesale and without notice’ the publications of the Ahmadiyya Muslim Jamaat Bangladesh. Read less...

According to the Daily Star, a bomb exploded at the shrine of Saint Shahjalal in Sylhet and left two persons dead and 37 others injured on January 12. The bomb exploded while the people had reportedly gathered there to listen to mystic songs (Marfati). Police has, so far, not been able to ascertain the motive behind the attack. Read less...

Condemning the bomb attack in a shrine in Sylhet city, the main opposition party Awami League (AL) has called for an eight hour bandh (shutdown) in the city. Suspecting the hand of fundamentalist Jamaat-e-Islami, the city AL President and Sylhet City Corporation Mayor, Badar Uddin Ahmed Kamran said that the involvement of 'fundamentalists' in the attack could not be ruled out. Meanwhile, the death toll in the January 12 bomb blast at the shrine of Hazrat Shahjalal rose to three after one of the 37 injured in the attack succumbed to his injuries. Read less...

Separately, speaking to the media, the US Congressman Joseph Crowley, on January 12 in Dhaka, warned that Bangladesh's image abroad might be tarnished due to recent incidents of religious intolerance in the country. The minority leaders of the country also reportedly met him and informed that they were "persecuted, oppressed and marginalized in society." Read less...

In another incident, armed cadres of Islami Chhatra Shibir (ICS) and Jatiyatabadi Chhatra Dal (JCD) clashed in the Rajshahi University campus on January 13, leaving nearly 50 people including several JCD leaders injured. Read less...

Indian Express reported that security agencies in Bangladesh have identified at least 48 camps across the country which were providing arms training to Islamist terrorists, some of whom are known to be close to the Al-Qaeda and Taliban. Read less...

Meanwhile, the visiting US Congressman Joseph F Crowley, on January 13, reportedly condemned the government ban on Ahmadiyya publications saying it was "wrong, a bad precedent and unfortunate". Read less...

An international outfit of anti-Ahmadiyya radicals, the International Majlis-e-Tahaffuz-e-Khatme Nobuwat Bangladesh, and a local 'socio-cultural' organisation have scheduled demonstrations at Paltan Maidan in Dhaka for January 16 and January 23 respectively, to exert pressure on the government to declare Ahmadiyyas as ‘non-Muslims’. Bangladesh Khelafat Majlis, a radical Islamist organisation and offshoot of the ruling coalition partner, Islami Oikya Jote (IOJ), will also hold a demonstration for the same purpose on January 20. Read less...

Meanwhile, speaking to the media on January 14, the visiting US Congressman Joseph Crowley expressed his concern about the presence of extremist groups in Bangladesh, but expected the country to deal itself with them. Read less...

Separately, Fazlul Haq Amini, chairman of an IOJ faction during a meeting in Dhaka on January 14 stated that his party would compel the government to cave in to the anti-Ahmadiyya demand. He also threatened the government that he would create difficulties in running the country unless it agrees to what they want. Prime Minister Khaleda Zia had reportedly rejected the demand to declare Ahmadiyyas ‘non-Muslims’ after the issue was raised by the IOJ Chairman, Azizul Haq. Read less...

Meanwhile, a Cable News Network (CNN) report stated that the U.S. State Department, in a public announcement, has warned its citizens in Bangladesh to remain vigilant, particularly in public places such as hotels, restaurants, shopping areas, and places of worship. This warning was reportedly issued after it received "several possible threats" against the U.S. Embassy in Bangladesh and other U.S. interests there. Read less...

Further, addressing an anti-Ahmadiyya grand conference organised by International Majlis-e-Tahaffuz-e-Khatme Nabuwat Bangladesh (IMTKNB), at Paltan Maidan, on January 16, the chairman of the Islamic Oikya Jote, Fazlul Haq Amini, a partner of the ruling coalition, threatened that the country would turn into a province of India if the government did not declare the Ahmadiyyas ‘non-Muslim’. Read less...

Meanwhile, one more person injured in the January 12 bomb blast at the shrine of Shahjalal succumbed to his injuries, taking the death toll in the incident to four. Read less...

Daily Star reported that clashes occurred between indigenous people and Bangalee workers in Rangamati when the tribals tried to prevent workers from going to Chondraghona Paper Mills. At least five people were injured in the incident. Read less...

Meanwhile, Reuters quoting unnamed foreign ministry official of Bangladesh reported that Dhaka has denied the allegations of Tripura Chief Minister Manik Sarkar that the country was hosting camps of terrorists active in northeastern India. Read less...

According to police sources, three police constables were reportedly injured when four unidentified miscreants threw bombs on a police camp from a moving vehicle on January 22 at Gourambha under Rampal sub-district in the Bagerhat district. The bombs failed to cause major casualties as it was thrown from the moving vehicles. Read less...

The Daily Star has reported that a faction of the Islami Oikya Jote (IOJ) led by Azizul Haq and Fazlul Haq Amini, both Members of Parliament (MPs) have decided to step up the agitation for declaration of the Ahmadiyyas as ‘non-Muslims’, despite Prime Minister Khaleda Zia's refusal to accept the demand. They will reportedly launch a 'vigorous agitation' across Bangladesh to force Khaleda Zia's Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP)-led coalition to bow to the anti-Ahmadiyya demand. Read less...

The Daily Star reported that Aamra Dhakabashi, a socio-cultural organisation and Hifazate Khatme Nabuwat Andolon (HKNA) during a meeting at Muktangan in Dhaka, on January 23, have issued threats against the government if it fails to declare the Ahmadiyyas ‘non-Muslims’. Leaders of the organisation also announced that they would march to the central mosque of the Ahmadiyya Muslim Jamaat Bangladesh at the Dhaka city's Bakshibazar on June 18 and recite the Juma (Friday) prayers there. They also asked politicians, especially Awami League President Sheikh Hasina, to withdraw their statements issued against the ban on Ahmadiyya publications. Read less...

The British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) quoting Bangladesh Civil Aviation Minister, Mir Nasiruddin reported that Bangladesh has agreed to put armed guards known as sky marshals on some passenger flights of Bangladesh national airlines, Biman, to the United States. The armed guards would reportedly be deployed on only those flights for which the United States authorities make a special request. Bangladesh has taken this step in response to a request from Washington. Read less...

Meanwhile, police have reportedly detained one person, Yunus Munshi, of Daulatpur in Khulna in connection with the bomb blast at the Gouramva police camp. Read less...

The Daily Star reported that the Banglaee Chhatra Parishad (BCP), an organisation for Bangla speaking students in Chittagong Hill Tracts (CHT) has decided to enforce a half-day strike in Rangamati on January 28 today, protesting discrimination between them and tribesmen in education, jobs and in government development programmes. They also want scrapping of the 1997 CHT peace accord. Read less...

According to a Daily Star report of January 30, security personnel have recovered illegal arms and explosives from the forest area in Dhighinala of Khagrachhari district and Baghaihat of Rangamati district in last four days. The recovery includes a rocket launcher, a sub-machine gun (SMG), a rifle, an airgun, 39 SMG bullets, 913 papers, 76 gel explosives, 200 yards of detonation cords, safety fuse, cell and container explosives. Besides, three colour televisions, a video camera, a sewing machine, army uniforms, and a walkie-talkie were retrieved from the extremist hideout. Read less...

In another incident, Manzur Morshed Khan Labu, general secretary of Sonadanga unit of the oppostion Awami League, was severely injured when unidentified assailants hurled three bombs at him on Haji Ismail Road in Khulna city. Read less...

On January 29, a leader of the ruling Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP), Amir Azam Khan, and chairman of Amirpur union in Batiaghata upazila (sub-district) under Khulna Police Station was killed by extremists. Amir had reportedly received death threats from extremists on several occasions last year for taking a bold stand against them in Batiaghata. Read less...

Three powerful bomb explosions at Mongla on January 29 and January 30 left one person seriously injured, delayed media reports said. Two powerful bombs went off in the house of labour leader and pourashava commissioner Shahjahan Shikary on January 30, in his absence. A day ago, a man identified as Phul Mia, was seriously injured in a bomb explosion in Madrassa Road. So far, no arrest has been made in these cases, nor has anyone claimed responsibility. Read less...