Jamaat-ul-Mujahideen Bangladesh

Jamaat-ul-Mujahideen Bangladesh
FoundersBangla Bhai
Shaykh Abdur Rahman
LeaderBangla Bhai (? - 2006), Shaykh Abdur Rahman (1998 - 2006) and several others
Dates of operation1998–present
IdeologyIslamism
Islamic fundamentalism
StatusActive
Size10,000 members[1]
Battles and warsInternal conflict in Bangladesh
Maoist insurgency in Bangladesh
Bangladesh drug war
Designated as a terrorist group by

Jamaat-ul-Mujahideen ("Assembly of Mujahideen–Bangladesh", abbreviated: JMB; Bengali: জামাত-উল-মুজাহিদীন বাংলাদেশ) is a radical islamist terrorist organisation operating in Bangladesh. It is listed as a terror group by Bangladesh, India, Malaysia, The United Kingdom and Australia.[3][4][5] It was founded in April 1998 in Palampur in Dhaka Division by Abdur Rahman[6][7] and gained public prominence in 2001 when bombs and documents detailing the activities of the organisation were discovered in Parbatipur in Dinajpur district.[8] The organisation was officially declared a terrorist organisation and banned by the government of Bangladesh in February 2005 after attacks on NGOs. But it struck back in mid-August when it detonated 500 small bombs at 300 locations throughout Bangladesh.[9] The group re-organised and has committed several public murders in 2016 in northern Bangladesh as part of a wave of attacks on secularists.[10]

The JMB was believed to have contained at least 10,000 members,[1] and have an extensive network of organisations,[11] including connections to legal Islamist organisations.[12] Six of the top leaders of JMB were captured by the RAB security forces in 2005. After being tried and convicted in court, on the evening of 29 March 2007, four were executed by hanging for the killing of two judges and for the August 2005 bombings.[13]

In two separate incidents in 2015, it was discovered that JMB had been receiving financing from officers at the Pakistan High Commission in Dhaka. Visa Attache, Mazhar Khan, was caught red-handed at a meeting with a JMB operative in April 2015, who said that they were involved in pushing large consignments of fake Indian currency into West Bengal and Assam.[14] Second Secretary, Farina Arshad, was expelled by Bangladesh in December 2015 after a JMB operative admitted to having received 30,000 Taka from her.[15]

An offshoot of the group, the Neo-Jamaat-ul-Mujahideen Bangladesh, effectively operates as the ISIL in Bangladesh.[16][17]

  1. ^ a b Stahl, Adam E. (16 July 2007). "Challenges Facing Bangladesh". Institute for Counter-Terrorism-Israel. Archived from the original on 8 November 2018. Retrieved 15 December 2015.
  2. ^ "Australian National Security Website".
  3. ^ "Anti Money Anti-Money Laundering, Anti-Terrorism Financing and Proceeds of Unlawful Activities Act 2001" (PDF). Ministry of Home Affairs. Archived from the original (PDF) on 1 September 2021. Retrieved 10 September 2020.
  4. ^ "Proscribed Terrorist Organisations" (PDF). Home Office. Archived from the original (PDF) on 7 June 2016. Retrieved 12 June 2016.
  5. ^ "Australian National Security Website".
  6. ^ "Terrorism: A Tragic Tale of Continued Denials". New Age. 27 September 2005.
  7. ^ "Salafi ideology behind JMB's rise". Prothom Alo. Archived from the original on 2 February 2017. Retrieved 3 February 2017.
  8. ^ "Jama'atul Mujahideen Bangladesh (JMB)". South Asia Terrorism Portal.
  9. ^ "The Rising Tide of Islamism in Bangladesh". Hudson Institute. 16 February 2006.
  10. ^ Geeta Anand; Julfikar Ali Manik (8 June 2016). "Bangladesh Says It Now Knows Who's Killing the Bloggers". The New York Times.
  11. ^ Anwar Ali (19 August 2005). "Jama'atul Tentacles Spread in Five and Half Years". The Daily Star. Retrieved 11 January 2008.
  12. ^ "Jama'atul Mujahideen Bangladesh (JMB), South Asia Terrorism Portal". South Asia Terrorism Portal.
  13. ^ Julfikar Ali Manik; Shariful Islam (31 March 2007). "Six JMB militants hanged". The Daily Star. Retrieved 4 January 2008.
  14. ^ "Fake Indian Currency Note racket in Bangladesh". Dhaka Times. 3 March 2015. quote: Rahman... discclosed that he took part in collection and distribution of FICN supplied by the Pak diplomat and pushing the same through West Bengal and Assam border into India
  15. ^ "'Terror financing': Pak diplomat withdrawn from Bangladesh". The Daily Star. 23 December 2015.
  16. ^ "Islamic State Bangladesh (ISB, ISISB) -- Abu Jandal al-Bangali". Terrorism Research and Analysis Consortium.
  17. ^ IS names new emir in Bengal issues threat to carry out attacks in India and Bangladesh. Times of India.