Dhaka, August 17: Two major right-wing militant outfits, including HuJI, responsible for a series of terror attacks in Bangladesh are chalking out plans to work in coordination amid an intensified campaign against them by the new government, security officials have said. Harkatul Jihad al Islami (HuJI) and Jamaatul Mujahideen Bangladesh (JMB) were seemingly planning to work together despite structural and operational differences in view of an intensified security vigil.
The reports emerge as Bangladesh observes the anniversary of the countrywide serial blasts on August 17, 2005, with Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina vowing to uproot militancy in line with her electoral promises. “HuJI is an outfit with wider external links while JMB is largely a local organisation but our information suggest they are trying to chalk up a plan to work together,” a security official told PTI. Law enforcement agencies were kept on alert to prevent any militant activity coinciding with the anniversary of the 2005 serial blasts.
JMB was formed by the now executed commander Abdur Rahman in 1998 after he defected from HuJI. A report in the New Age newspaper said the JMB cadres were trying to regroup in remote Char areas of the northern districts after getting out of jails by exploiting legal loopholes.
—Agencies