A terrorist outfit in Bangladesh having links with the al Qaeda and Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) has called upon the student wing of the Jamaat-e-Islami to stop rallying behind the chief opposition party — the Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP). Instead, it’s called on it to break jails to free Jamaat leaders who are being tried for alleged war crimes during the Bangladesh Liberation War.
In an 11-minute video statement released on January 6, terrorist outfit Ansarullah Bangla Team (ABT), led by absconding Islamic cleric Tamim al-Adnani, has appealed to the members of Islami Chhatra Shibir, the student wing of Jamaat, to shun all democratic practices and join jihad to free their leaders.
“ABT is an underground terrorist organisation. It is now trying to draw support from the Jamaat camp that we have banned in 2013. I guess they have realised BNP leader Khalida Zia would not be able to deliver on her promise of turning Bangladesh into a safe haven for Islamic terrorists. That is why they are trying to split the BNP and Jamaat’s support base,” Bangladesh information minister Hasanul Haque Inu told HT over phone from Dhaka.
The ABT reportedly has sent a group of Bangladeshis to Afghanistan who opened an al Qaeda unit at Khurassan in Northeast Afghanistan. “How long would your continue jihad in the form of seeking vote for the BNP?” the ABT says in the video.
{{/usCountry}}The ABT reportedly has sent a group of Bangladeshis to Afghanistan who opened an al Qaeda unit at Khurassan in Northeast Afghanistan. “How long would your continue jihad in the form of seeking vote for the BNP?” the ABT says in the video.
{{/usCountry}}Bangladesh witnessed widespread violence since 2013 over the trial of pro-Pakistan Jamaat leaders who had opposed the creation of Bangladesh.
Sources in Bangladesh said the video is a desperate attempt to recruit from among Jamaat’s student wing.
While top Jamaat leader Abdul Qader Mollah was hanged in December 2013, another top leader, ATM Azharul Islam, was awarded death sentence last month.