Imtiaz finally surfaced over the weekend in a shocking way: He was identified as one of five suspected Islamist radicals who stormed a Dhaka restaurant, took patrons hostage and methodically killed 23 people, majority foreigners, in an attack that was claimed by Islamic State.
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The video, posted on IS-affiliated websites, reflected the terror group’s focus on Bangladesh in recent months.
U.S. officials said they are still analyzing the links between Islamic State and a June 28 attack on Istanbul airport that killed 45 people; an attack on a cafe frequented by foreigners in Dhaka on Friday that killed 20 people; a suicide truck bombing in a mainly Shi’ite Baghdad neighborhood on Saturday that killed at least 175 people; and attacks in Saudi Arabia targeting USA diplomats, Shi’ite worshippers and a security office at a mosque in the holy city of Medina. In September 2014, when Al-Qaeda leader Ayman al-Zawahiri launched its South Asia wing (Al-Qaeda in the Indian subcontinent), Zawahiri released a video that assured Muslims in India, Bangladesh, and Burma that the organization would help “rescue” them from injustice and persecution.
This comes a day after a Bangladeshi police official made a shocking revelation saying he might have killed a hostage mistakenly during the 11-hour siege in the Dhaka restaurant, as he thought that the latter was one of the terrorists.
“It was a glimpse…will repeat”, tweeted Rita Katz, director of SITE intelligence, quoting the men from the video.
The police officer said parents and relatives of the five men were questioned Tuesday and some again on Wednesday.
The video begins with images of recent attacks claimed by IS in Paris, Brussels and in Orlando in the US.
One eyewitness said hostages were tortured if they could not recite the Koran. “We will not stop killing the crusaders till then; we will win or die for our religion as martyrs and achieve Sahadaat [martyrdom]… we don’t have anything to lose”. He termed the current form of democracy in Bangladesh a “Shirk” or unforgivable crime.
The woman said she learnt later that one of the men had persuaded the attackers to keep their promise to spare the Bangladeshi Muslims.
Another speaker is seen labeling the Bangladeshi government as kafir. It is our religious duty to fight against it.
Bangladesh has rejected IS’s claim of responsibility for attack on Dhaka café.
Three of the attackers are from well-off families and studied in Dhaka’s top schools while two others came from poor families in Bogra.
Their attack marked a major escalation in violence aimed at forcing strict Islamic rule onto predominantly Muslim Bangladesh’s 160 million people.
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A case was filed on Monday under the anti-terrorism act by Gulshan area police Sub-Inspector Ripon against unidentified persons as well as six slain attackers for the Holey Artisan Bakery killings.
