Pakistan's Inter Service Intelligence is working with Bangladesh's intelligence agencies to facilitate cooperation between northeast militant groups like ULFA and other jihadist outfits in the South Asian regions besides Tamil rebels in Lanka, US intelligence service Startfor has said.
In its latest forecast titled "India: The Islamization of the Northeast", it observes that there is a growing Islamization in the region spurred by ISI and instability in neighbouring Bangladesh which is giving foreign powers (China and Pakistan) a gamut of exploitable secessionist movements to use to prevent India from emerging as a major global player.
The Stratfor says that there exists a strong nexus between ISI and Bangladesh's intelligence agencies.
There are growing indications, says the report, that these two agencies are working clandestinely in Bangladesh to bring all the northeast-based insurgent outfits and jihadist elements under one umbrella.
"The ISI has facilitated cooperation between ULFA and other northeastern militant outfits with the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam in Sri Lanka, Islamist militant groups in Jammu and Kashmir, Islamist groups in Bangladesh and a growing number of al Qaeda-linked jihadist groups operating in the region," it adds.
"ULFA's growing links with Bangladeshi Islamists and jihadist elements in the area are increasingly coming to light," the report claims.
{{/usCountry}}"ULFA's growing links with Bangladeshi Islamists and jihadist elements in the area are increasingly coming to light," the report claims.
{{/usCountry}}The April 9 attack timed with Prime Minister Manmohan Singh's visit to Assam marked the group's first-ever suicide bombing, a tactic that was pioneered by the Tigers and has been frequently employed by Islamist militants.