Author: Rakesh K. Singh
Publication: The Asian Age
Date: July 16, 2006
Bangladesh is fast becoming the new international
hub of terrorist activities and the country has become the hotbed of militant
training and recruitment ground with even the Bangladeshi Army directly involved
with terror outfits, sources said.
Apart from the list of nearly 150 terrorist
training camps that the Border Security Force has given to Bangladesh Rifles,
the Centre has prepared a list of 13 terrorist camps and training centres
in Bangladesh that are directly under the command and control of the Al Qaeda.
In addition, 11 madrasas also act as training centres, according to security
agencies.
The Saidpur Army Regimental Centre of the
Bangladeshi Army has trained nearly 100 cadres to infiltrate Indian security
forces but the Indian government has so far been unable to reign in the Dhaka
regime to check the growth of such forces, sources said.
Facing the heat against its bases in Afghanistan
and West Asia, the Al Qaeda has shifted its base to Bangladesh and is now
operating nearly 13 training and recruitment camps. It has three camps at
Cox's Bazar, four each at Bandarban and Chittagong and one each at Rangamati
and Brahmanbaria, sources said.
Besides, seven madrasas act as centres of
the Harkat-ul-Jihad Islami (HuJI), three madrasas near Sylhet, and one at
Rangamati also double up as recruitment centres. According to the US state
department, HuJI is a terrorist organisation with ties to Pakistani militants.
The Al Qaeda operates from Bangladesh under
various cover names and fronts and its oldest partner in Bangladesh remains
HuJI. HuJI started operating with financial help from Osama bin Laden from
1992 and has a cadre base of 15,000 trained personnel led by Shaukat Osman,
alias Sheikh Farid, sources said. HuJI has links with the Roshingya Solidarity
Organisation (RSO) and the latter acts in close concert with various outfits
linked to the Al Qaeda. The RSO-HuJI combine gets arms from private dealers
at Aranya Prathat on the Thailand-Cambodia border.
