Bangladesh: Police raid suspected militant hideout in Dhaka Sep. 5

Event

Police officials said that a suspected Jamaat ul-Mujahideen (JMB) hideout was raided in Dhaka on Tuesday, September 5. Security forces surrounded the building in the Mirpur area late on Monday, September 4, after receiving a tip for local residents. The militants refused to surrender and detonated an explosive device around 22:00 (local time) on Tuesday. According to the police, seven people were killed in the blast, including two children, two women, and a suspected high level JMB member.

Context

The number of terrorist attacks has been gradually increasing in predominantly Muslim Bangladesh, a country of 160 million people. Over the past few years, several prominent liberal writers and members of religious minorities have been killed. Some terrorist groups, including JMB, have pledged allegiance to the Islamic State (IS). JMB has claimed responsibility for several attacks in Bangladesh, including the attack on a café on July 1, 2016, in Dhaka's diplomatic quarter, in which 22 people were killed. Police have killed more than 40 suspected terrorists in raids since the café attack.

The government is taking steps to address the terrorist threat, although Bangladesh's criminal justice system is still in the process of fully implementing the Antiterrorism Act of 2009 (ATA). A Counterterrorism and Transnational Crime Unit (CTTCU) was formed as a part of the Dhaka Metropolitan Police and began operations in February 2016. Additionally, the Bangladeshi Ministry of Religious Affairs and the National Committee on Militancy, Resistance, and Prevention, work with imams and religious scholars to build public awareness against terrorism and to counter violent extremism.

Advice

Due to the high risk of terrorism in Bangladesh, exercise vigilance when visiting sites deemed particularly likely to be targeted (public transportation, train stations, ports, airports, public or government buildings, embassies or consulates, international organizations, schools and universities, religious sites, markets, hotels and restaurants frequented by foreigners/Westerners, festivals, etc.) and report any suspicious objects or behavior to the authorities.