Security agencies said on Sunday that they had thwarted a destructive plot by neo-JMB militants designed to attack on civilians during Durga Puja and Ashura processions.
They carried out three pre-emptive operations on Saturday in Gazipur and Tangail districts that killed 11 suspected militants in gunfights between the militants and members of joint forces of police and Rapid Action Battalion.
“We have foiled a plot by new-JMB Group members linked to ISIS ideology. They were planning to launch a wave of attacks targeting shopping malls and public gatherings during celebration of Durga Puja and Ashura processions by using bombs and firearms,” a senior security agency official told The New Nation on Sunday, asking not to be named.
He added: “We were aware of their plot and carried out crackdowns on militant dens on Saturday to foil their plot. The latest drives against the suspected militants were carried out after intelligence gathering.”
The official said that they had already nabbed many of the suspected militants, including neo-JMB members, across the country.”The arrestees have provided sensational information regarding their operation and network during interrogations.” When asked, the security official said those who killed in Saturday’s raids were the members of JMB’s hardline sleeper cell. They had training of manufacturing bombs, operating firearms and carrying out destructive acts. During raids at militant dens in Gazupur and Tangail, security agencies had seized large quantities of ammunition, firearms, machetes, bomb-making materials and computers The police official said the latest crackdown has weakened both network and strength of the new-JMB group lessening the possibility of subversive acts by the Islamist militants.
Security agencies remained highly vigilant about the risk of militant attacks after the deadly attack on Holey Artisan café in July. Militants affiliated with Jama’atul Mujahedeen Bangladesh (JMB) have been blamed for the attack.
“We have increased our onslaught on militant groups after that assault, in which 22 people, most of them foreigners, were killed. These operations are based on very sensitive information,” said the official.
The security agencies have been working to detect the militant dens and their hideouts so that they can thwart the destructive plots of Islamist militant groups.
“We are capable to resist the homegrown militants and thwart their destructive plot that aimed at destabilizing national security,” he added Security forces have carried out several crackdowns on militants in recent years amid growing attacks by Islamist groups in the country.
Last year, the Islamic State claimed responsibility for attacks here, beginning with the murder of Cesare Tavella, an Italian aid worker, and expanding the attacks against Shiite, Hindu and Christian minorities.
Since the July 1 siege of the Gulshan café, at least 31 militants have been killed, according to Ain o Salish Kendra, a local human rights group.
Among those killed was Tamim Ahmed Chowdhury, whom the Islamic State named in a recent publication as its head of military operations in Bangladesh.
