Ansarullah Bangla Team

Ansarullah Bangla Team
আনসার আল-ইসলাম
ChiefMuhammad Jasimuddin Rahmani (alleged by several Indian medias and pro-Indian Bangladesh Awami League government)
Dates of operation2013 - present
Allegiance
Active regionsIndian subcontinent
IdeologyIslamic extremism
Major actionsAshulia Bank Robbery, Killing of Atheist Bloggers
StatusActive
Sizeunknown
Designated as a terrorist group by

The Ansarullah Bangla Team (ABT) (Bengali: আনসারুল্লাহ বাংলা টিম), also known as Ansar-al Islam Bangladesh or Ansar Bangla is a pan-Islamist militant organization in Bangladesh, implicated in many terrorist activities including attacks and murders of atheist bloggers from 2013 to 2015.[4] The organisation was outlawed by the Ministry of Home Affairs on 25 May 2015, days after the Ashulia bank robbery.[5][6] The group has also been linked by the Detective Branch of Bangladesh Police to Islami Chhatra Shibir, the student wing of the Bangladesh Jamaat-e-Islami party.[7]

Confessions of five members of the group were recorded by Dhaka Metropolitan Magistrate Harun-or-Rashid that continued from 1 pm to 8 pm relating to the murder of Ahmed Rajib Haider on February 15, 2013. Another four have been arrested for the attack on blogger Asif Mohiuddin.[8] They also claimed responsibility for the murder of three atheist bloggers, Avijit Roy,[9] Oyasiqur Rahman Babu,[10] and Ananta Bijoy Das,[11] and murder of Rajshahi University sociology professor AKM Shafiul Islam.[12]

According to the Terrorism Research & Analysis Consortium, the ABT is an Al Qaeda inspired Islamic extremist group in Bangladesh that started its activities during 2007 as the Jama’atul Muslemin funded by different NGOs. The group ceased to operate when funding ended. It resurfaced during 2013 as the ABT.[5]

  1. ^ a b "Ansarullah Bangla Team (ABT) Terrorist Group, Islamist Terrorism".
  2. ^ "Proscribed terrorist groups or organisations".
  3. ^ "Bangladesh".
  4. ^ "Al-Qaeda branch claims responsibility for murder of writer-blogger Avijit Roy: Rab, police doubt reported claim". The Daily Star. Transcom Group. May 4, 2015. Archived from the original on 2015-05-05. Retrieved May 5, 2015.
  5. ^ a b "Ansarullah Bangla Team banned". Dhaka Tribune. May 25, 2015. Archived from the original on 2015-05-27. Retrieved June 1, 2015.
  6. ^ "Militant Ansarullah Bangla Team banned". Prothom Alo. Transcom Group. May 25, 2015. Archived from the original on 2015-05-27. Retrieved June 2, 2015.
  7. ^ "Blogger Rajib's 'killers' linked to al-Qaeda: DB". The Daily Star. Transcom Group. March 15, 2013. Archived from the original on 2013-03-18. Retrieved June 2, 2015. The North South University students ... were working under a new-born extremist militant organisation 'Ansarullah Bengali Team'
  8. ^ "4 held over attempt to kill blogger". The Daily Star. April 2, 2013. Archived from the original on 2013-05-23. Retrieved June 1, 2015.
  9. ^ "Ansar Bangla-7 claims Avijit killing responsibility". Prothom Alo. Transcom Group. February 27, 2015. Archived from the original on 2015-06-02. Retrieved May 16, 2015.
  10. ^ Dearden, Lizzie (March 30, 2015). "An atheist blogger has been hacked to death in Bangladesh for the second time this year". The Independent. Archived from the original on 2015-05-18. Retrieved May 16, 2015.
  11. ^ "Bangladesh arrests three men including Briton over murders of secular bloggers". The Guardian. August 18, 2015. Archived from the original on 2017-02-15. Retrieved February 13, 2017.
  12. ^ "Islamist group claim responsibility of RU teacher murder". bdnews24.com. November 16, 2014. Archived from the original on 2015-05-18. Retrieved May 16, 2015.