Bangladesh: Ansar Al-Islam/ABT Menacing Dregs – Analysis

By Afsara Shaheen

On July 2, 2024, the Counter Terrorism and Transnational Crime Unit (CTTC) of the Dhaka Metropolitan Police (DMP) arrested three operatives of Ansar-al-Islam/ Ansarullah Bangla Team (ABT), Mohammad Mamun Hossain, Abu Bakkar, and Hasibul Islam, in the Mohakhali Bus Terminal area of Dhaka, the capital city.

On July 1, 2024, an Ansar al-Islam operative, Parvin Akhtar (24), who was secretly training and recruiting members under the guise of running a fish farm, was arrested by the Anti-Terrorism Unit (ATU) in the Netakona District of Dhaka Division. A Police official disclosed, "Arrested Parvin Akhter and her associates were giving training and recruiting members for the banned group under the guise of running a fish farm. They used the fish farm as a training centre, discreetly gathering and training recruits from across the country, using their vehicles."

On July 1, 2024, the ATU recovered three Improvised Explosive Devices (IEDs) from a flat in a four-story residential building rented by operatives of Ansar al-Islam in RupganjUpazila(Sub-District) in Narayanganj District of Dhaka Division and later defused them through controlled explosions. Mohammad Sanowar Hossain, Superintendent of Police (Operations) of ATU, said, "The flat was rented by militants as a hideout. Two men and one woman, along with two children, were living in this flat for a few months. Those three adults have connections with Ansar al-Islam."

On June 27, 2024, the Rapid Action Battalion (RAB) arrested three suspected Ansar al-Islam cadres, Zakaria Mandal, Mohammad Niamat Ullah and Mohammad Ozair, in the Chowfaldandi area of Cox's Bazar District, Chittagong Division. RAB recovered ten extremist books, 29 leaflets, one diary, twomadrasaidentity cards, two national identification cards (NIDs), two mobile phones, and BDT 4,590 from their possession.

On June 14, 2024, RAB arrested two Ansar al-Islam militants, Mohammad Asaduzzaman Asif (22) and Mohammad Ahad (21), and recoveredjihadibooks from Shikalbaha in Chittagong (Chattogram) District, Chittagong Division.

On June 1, 2024, DMP’s CTTC Unit arrested three cadres of Ansar al-Islam, Shakil Ahmed, Fardin Ahmed Mirdul and Rayhan Hosain, from the Wari Police Station area of Dhaka District in Dhaka Division.

According to partial data collected by theSouth Asia Terrorism Portal(SATP), at least 18 ABT/Ansar al-Islam cadres/leaders have been arrested in 2024, thus far (data till July 05, 2024). 32 such arrests were made in 2023, while five were arrested in 2022. Since 2013, Security Forces (SFs) have arrested at least 425 ABT/Ansar al-Islam cadres/leaders from across the country.

Ansarul al-Islam, formerly known as ABT, was banned in March, 2017 due to its extensive use of violence against intellectuals, writers, atheists, secularists, and gay rights activists between 2014 and 2016. During 2007 a group named Jama’atul Muslemin, funded by different Non-Governmental Organisations, started its activities in Bangladesh. The group, however, ceased to operate when funding ended. It resurfaced during 2013 as ABT. The ABT was banned on May 25, 2015. It resurfaced as Ansar al-Islam, which, in turn, was banned on March 5, 2017. The notification said activities of the organization were contrary to the country's peace and order and had already been considered as a threat to public safety. From the middle of 2015 onwards, Ansar al-Islam referred to itself as the Bangladeshi wing of Al-Qaeda in the Indian Sub-Continent (AQIS).

Shortly thereafter, Ansarul al-Islam and AQIS both started claiming credit for or linking themselves to nearly all of the assaults in Bangladesh against progressive and secular people. In 2015 and 2016, at least fifteen such individuals were killed or seriously injured, while others on the AQIS/ Ansarul al-Islam hit list either left the country or went into hiding. In September 2016, Ansal Al Islam/ABT published a hit list of bloggers and activists around the world, threatening to kill them. The majority of the individuals on the list — nine from the United Kingdom (UK), seven from Germany, two from the United States (US), one from Canada, and one from Sweden — were expatriate Bangladeshis, according to a statement released online.

The outfit came into prominence when its cadres started hacking bloggers, free thinkers and secular activists to death in 2013. It started with the killing of blogger Ahmed Rajib Haider near his house in Mirpur, on February 15, 2013. In August 2015, Ansarul al-Islam/AQIS had vowed to kill anyone who insulted or criticised Prophet Muhammad, misrepresented Islam, or — above all — voiced resistance to the country's adoption ofsharialaw.

Some of the prominent incidents of killing related to the group included: 

• February 26, 2015: Bangladesh-born US citizen and secular author, Avijit Roy, was killed and his wife, Rafida Bonya Ahmed, was seriously wounded by Ansarul al-Islam in Dhaka.
• August 7, 2015: AQIS/ Ansarul al-Islam's spokesperson for Bangladesh, Abdullah Ashraf, claimed the death of blogger Niloy Neel in the Goran area of Dhaka "as vengeance for the honor of the messenger of Allah" and declared war "against the enemies of Allah".
• April 8, 2016: Cadres of ABT/Ansar al-Islam killed blogger Nazimuddin Samad (26), a Masters student at Jagannath University in Dhaka city. An Ansar al- statement posted online after the incident declared that its members carried out the attack in "vengeance", because Samad "abused" God, Prophet Muhammad and Islam: "This operation was conducted to teach a lesson to the blasphemers of this land whose poisonous tongues are constantly abusing Allah, the religion of Islam and the Messenger under the pretext of so-called freedom of speech."
• April 25, 2016: Ansar Al-Islam militants killed same-sex rights activist Xulhaz Mannan and his friend, theatre activist Mahbub Rabbi Tonoy, after breaking into their Kalabagan residence in Dhaka.

A counterterrorism court in 2021 sentenced to death five Ansar Al-Islam militants and imprisoned another for life. A USD 5 million prize for any more information regarding fugitive members involved in the attack on Roy and his wife was also announced by the U.S. State Department's Rewards for Justice Programme.

On June 29, 2024, Chief of DMP’s CTTC unit Mohammad Asaduzzaman stated that there was still a risk of militancy in Bangladesh. Among the four organisations that had carried out militant and sabotage activities in the country in the past, Ansar Al Islam was the most active. The remaining three organisations – Jamaatul Mujahideen Bangladesh (JMB), neo-JMB and Harkat-ul-Jihad-al Islami Bangladesh (HuJI-B) had weakened. Law enforcement was consequently considering Ansar Al Islam the biggest remaining threat of militancy in the country.

Sources indicate that the Districts of Dhaka and Chittagong are the centres of ABT/Ansar al-Islam's organisational activity. Kushtia and Satkhira Districts are also home to the group's bases.

On May 24, 2024, RAB arrested three operatives of Shahadat, a new outfit based on the Ansar al-Islam ideology, in separate raids in the Dhaka and Narayanganj Districts of Dhaka Division. The arrestees were identified as Ismail Hossain (recruitment head of Shahadat) and its regional trainers Jihad HussainakaHuzaifa, and Aminul Islam. RAB Legal and Media Wing Director, Commander Arafat Islam confirmed the arrests and disclosed that the arrestees were actually Ansal Al-Islam operatives. They formed the new outfit, Shahadat, as the name Ansar al-Islam was known to all, and it was sometimes difficult to continue activities under that identity.

According to CTTC, Ansar Al Islam was conducting its operations by establishing "cells" in practically all areas of the country, in addition to welcoming new recruits and routinely providing training to vetted veteran members. A cell's leader is referred to asmasulor accountable; their superior is referred to asmajma masul, who is notified by amasulabout their identity-disguising activities. Since 2016, the organisation has adhered to a stringent secrecy policy. For internal communication, they have also been utilising their own applications. Furthermore, Ansar al-Islam has been secretly recruiting Rohingya women and refugees to assist with tasks such as intelligence collection and couriering.

Sources further said Ansar Al Islam currently maintains 100 to 150 websites that showcase its actions on a regular basis. Additionally, they use Facebook, Instagram, Telegram, and X for theirdawah(proselytising) activities. CTTC sources report that Ansar Al Islam is currently more active in recruiting technology experts. They have a different section calledIdratul Dawah Network(IDN) for this purpose.

On June 1, 2024, the Deputy Commissioner of the DMP’s CTTC Unit, Jahidul Hoque Talukder, disclosed that Ansar al-Islam had raised BDT 1.8 million through crowdfunding within a few months after launching a platform calledDeen Islam Foundationon Facebook, in the name of sending aid to victims in Palestine.

Bangladeshi counterterrorism officials issued a warning at the end of December 2021 regarding the potential reappearance of Ansar al-Islam, an official AQIS wing that fervently backs the Islamic Emirate of the Afghan Taliban. The CTTC claimed that Ansar al-Islam had been hiring and training people in Bangladesh's interior and had persevered over the past years in spite of ongoing counterterrorism operations, which had targeted its hideouts and detained its cadres. Bangladeshi Police estimate that nearly 40 militants affiliated with Ansar al-Islam were arrested during 58 anti-terrorism operations across Bangladesh in 2021 alone.

MuftiJashimuddin Rahmani, ‘chief’ of ABT/Ansar al-Islam, was released from the Kashimpur High Security Central Jail in Gazipur District on January 21, 2024, after securing bail in five cases filed under the Anti-terrorism Act. However, CTTC officials expressed concerns over his release and believe it would elevate the terrorist threat and impede trials of cases of terrorism filed against him. Rahmani was arrested on August 12, 2013, in Barguna District, along with 30 members of his organisation, in connection with inciting people to commit violence. Despite concerns, Mohammad Asaduzzaman, Chief of the CTTC Unit, observed, "We are now trying to track down Rahmani and he will be under our monitoring. And we believe we will be able to avert any untoward situations.”

A recent investigative report released on July 6, 2024, revealed information regarding the activities of militant organisations, including Ansar al-Islam, inside Bangladesh's prison system. These groups use the country’s prisons not just as a hideout but also as a hub for planning acts of terrorism and for raising funds. The report indicates that one of the most alarming findings was Ansar al-Islam’s involvement in narcotics trafficking out of Kashimpur Central Jail (Part-1) in Gazipur District.

ABT/Ansar al-Islam, like other radical Islamist organisations in Bangladesh, has experienced losses as a result of actions of the Sheikh Hasina Government since it assumed office in January 2009. As with other terrorist formations, it is currently struggling to sustain operations. Nevertheless, there are ongoing attempts to engineer a resurgence. The revelations regarding Ansar al-Islam’s activities within the prison system are particularly alarming. These actions expose the widespread corruption and collusion in the criminal justice system, compounding the threat to national security. The groups' capacity to maintain communications with external networks and generate funds through various sources, including drug trafficking creates a potential that could produce explosive violence in the foreseeable future.

• Afsara Shaheen
  Research Assistant, Institute for Conflict Management