Islamic State – Bengal Province
Islamic State – Bengal Province (IS-BP) is an administrative division of the Islamic State, a Salafi jihadist militant group and former unrecognised Quasi-state. The group was announced by ISIL as its province in 2016.[4] The first emir of Wilayat al-Bengal, Abu Ibrahim al-Hanif, is believed to be Mohammad Saifullah Ozaki (born as Sajit Chandra Debnath, 1982) a Bangladeshi Japanese economist who went to Syria in 2015 and joined IS. A Hindu convert to Islam, he reportedly led the 2016 Dhaka attack. He was detained in Iraq in 2019 and Abu Muhammed al-Bengali was announced as the new emir of the province.[5][6]
Islamic State – Bengal Province
Abul Abbas al-Bengali
2016 – Present
No Headquarter
unknown
Neo-Jamaat-ul-Mujahideen Bangladesh, an offshoot of Jamaat-ul-Mujahideen Bangladesh (Al-Qaeda affiliated), effectively operates as the main IS branch in Bangladesh.[6]
It has been designated as a Foreign Terrorist Organization under the SDN by the United States Department of the Treasury's Office of Foreign Assets Control, with addresses in Dhaka, Rangpur, Sylhet and Jhenaidah.[7] It has also been designated as a Terrorist Organization by Canada.[8]
Bangladeshi response[edit]
Despite many attacks attributed to ISIL by police and claimed by the organization, the government denies its presence in Bangladesh[12][10] and has been slow to react to homegrown threats. One reason for the denial is Bangladesh's position as home to the world's second-largest garment industry (after China). Terrorist attacks and a government-confirmed ISIL presence might damage foreign trust in the country, affecting travel and trade.[60]
JMB leader Bangla Bhai was hanged in 2007 for murder. The group has been announced as an ISIL branch in Bangladesh, despite the government's denial of an ISIL presence in the country.[12] The United States Office of Foreign Assets Control and the State Department have identified an "ISIS-Bangladesh", citing the 2015 murder of Tavella Cesare and the July 2016 Dhaka attack as evidence of an ISIL presence in Bangladesh.[61][62]
The Bangladeshi government is enlisting international organizations and local community leaders to help alter local acceptance of Islamic extremist actions in the country.[12] Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina has asked other countries with ISIL activity in diaspora communities, such as the United Kingdom, to take preventive action against individuals who are radicalising communities and transplanting ideology (and militancy) back to Bangladesh; the diaspora community in England has proven ties to ISIL and JMB.[63]
To bolster governmental strength in Bangladesh, the country have cooperated with the United States to fortify their borders against bi-directional militant migration. The Bangladesh Coast Guard, Navy's Special Warfare and Diving Salvage unit and the army's 1st Para-Commando Battalion were trained by the U.S. Special Operations Command Pacific in 2015.[25]
Bangladesh's government has committed itself to the anti-terrorist movement, participating in the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation counter-terrorist protocols and adopting the stance and measures promoted by the UN Global Counter-Terrorism Strategy.[25] They are part of the Asia/Pacific Group on Money Laundering, which aims to thwart financing of militants and terrorist organizations. Although the Antiterrorism Act of 2009 does not explicitly outlaw recruitment and migration (fundamental to the spread of terrorism), legal action has been taken against individuals suspected of facilitating recruitment in Bangladesh and abroad.[58]
At January 7th 2023, Bengali police has arrested 2 men who was suspected to be part of ISIL at Howrah's Tikiapara area in Kolkata, after they was involved in spreading tentacles of the group. One of them admitted to having connections with ISIL functionaries in Pakistan and West Asia.[64]