Kazi Zahidul Hasan :The government has asked the security agencies to trace the militant dens, training camps and their financiers in the wake of recent deadly militant attacks in the country. At the same time, they have been asked to examine the link between the local militants and international terrorist groups as many of them were reported to have taken training in foreign lands.”We have ordered the security agencies to trace the militant training camps and funding sources of militant groups in a bid to root out terrorism and militancy from Bangladesh,” Home Minister Asaduzzaman Khan Kamal told The New Nation on Tuesday.He said, “Security agencies have also been asked to collect authentic information about those militants who were reported to have gone to foreign countries for training”. When asked, Kamal said the recent trends of militant attacks indicate that cooperation between the country’s Islamist militants and international terrorist groups is becoming closer. Ideological belief helps them to come closer. Quoting intelligence reports, the Minister said, “We are yet to find any training camps inside the country operated by Islamists militant network. Students of various educational institutions are being indoctrinated into violent jihad and training for attacks mainly from bachelors’ mess in the capital and elsewhere in the country”.”The law enforcement agencies have already busted many of the militant dens from various parts of the country, including Dhaka. Security agencies have been asked to find out militant dens if there are more hideouts,” he said. The Home Minister claimed that they have already arrested militant kingpins and hunts for their associates are on. Terming the recent wave of militant attacks as a local and international ‘conspiracy,’ Kamal said, “A vested quarter is hatching conspiracy to create an unstable situation in the country to push the government on back foot”.”We are aware of this conspiracy. We have already taken tough stance to root out the conspiracy as well all forms of terrorism from the country,” he added.”We are working relentlessly to combat terrorism and militancy from the country. Members of security agencies are working round the clock to collect information from the field level,” Colonel Ziaul Ahsan, a Director of National Security Intelligence (NSI) told The New Nation on Tuesday.He said, the security agencies have yet not found existence of militant training camps in Bangladesh. The militants are mostly hiding in the residential areas and getting arms and ammunition from foreign sources through underhand dealings.Asked about the Gulshan shooting, the NSI Director ruled out the intelligence failure saying that they have many successes in this field also.”Based on one incident, we cannot ignore the successes of security agencies,” he added.
