Visiting US Secretary of State John Kerry has said that the US wants to join forces with Bangladesh in the fight against terrorism and expressed the desire for additional intelligence sharing between the security agencies of both countries. In each session, he made the point that Bangladesh must deal with the roots of the attacks, the most recent of which killed 20 people, including 17 foreigners, at a popular restaurant last month in the capital. Bangladesh’s economy depends heavily on the fortunes of the $28 billion garment industry, which is struggling to improve a poor safety record epitomized by the Rana Plaza disaster of 2013 in which a factory collapse killed more than 1,100 people.
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Reportedly, he also said that the United States believes that elements of Islamic State are connected to operatives in Bangladesh that has faced a wave of attacks by Islamist militants.
“So I’m confident that our assistance to Bangladesh will increasingly be created to help the government address terrorism threats from domestic and trans-national organizations”, he said.
Later speaking at a select gathering in Dhaka, Mr. Kerry underscored the need for “more frequent” communication with Bangladesh for fighting terrorism and militancy.
On Saturday, police said they had killed three suspected militants, including an alleged mastermind of the cafe attack.
“We think there is much we can do to cooperate in this regard”, Kerry said, adding that the U.S. has already worked with Bangladeshi police, religious school students and conflict mitigation officials.
Kerry urged the government of Bangladesh to resist the temptation to shut down public debate or stifle opposition groups as a way to combat the threat.
Hasina raised the request during an hour-long meeting with US Secretary of State John Kerry, who was on day’s visit to Dhaka on Monday, reported the Daily Star. “And if we have too many young people who can’t go to school, or too many young people who are frustrated, or they can’t find a job – if we leave those minds out there for extremists to recruit, then it will continue, and none of us would be doing our jobs if we allowed that to happen”.
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Tuesday’s talks come amid some of the largest protests in Kashmir against Indian rule in recent years. Two policemen have been killed and hundreds of government forces have been injured in the clashes.
