ISIS has claimed responsibility for last month’s deadly attack on a cafe in the Bangladeshi capital Dhaka in which 22 people were killed and pictures of the attackers holding IS flags were posted online.
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“They are connected to some degree with some of the operatives here and we made that very clear in our conversation”.
Police believe that Jamaat-ul-Mujahideen Bangladesh, a local militant group that has pledged allegiance to Islamic State, was involved in organizing in the cafe attack.
The globe-trotting Kerry has never visited Bangladesh, and his decision to stop here reflects how the Bangladesh attacks have sharpened USA focus on the predominantly Muslim country as a potential Islamic State breeding ground.
The US and Bangladesh have a “long-standing partnership” with “programmes in place for many, many years that deal with counter-terrorism and security partnership”, a senior US state department official said ahead of Kerry’s arrival.
Bangladesh’s secular government has continued to enjoy the West’s support despite mounting concerns over its handling of the escalation in militant activity.
“Definitely Tamim’s death is a major setback for the terrorists, especially in the short term”, said Abdur Rob, professor of politics and security issues at the private North South University. Three militants, including the mastermind of the July attack, were killed in a raid, the Dhaka Metropolitan Police said in a statement on August 27.
Kerry is set to arrive Monday in Bangladesh in the wake of a series of extremist attacks. Attacks over the past two years have killed atheist bloggers, foreign aid workers and religious minorities.
Ironically, Kerry’s remarks, which received applause, were delivered in the Edward M. Kennedy Center, a joint project between Bangladeshi Liberation War Museum and the U.S. Embassy.
Talks between the two countries have intensified in recent months, the official said, with the United States engaging with Bangladesh police and the military charged with tackling extremists.
Kerry had earlier held discussions on US-Bangladesh co-operation on worldwide issues, development, security and human rights.
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“We would fight with Bangladesh to combat terrorism… we have enough experts in this regard and we could help Bangladesh by giving these experts”, he quoted Kerry as telling the Bangladeshi premier at her office. Two policemen have been killed and hundreds of government forces have been injured in the clashes. On Monday, Indian authorities lifted a curfew in most parts of Indian-controlled Kashmir as part of a 52-day security lockdown but tensions persist.
