Jamaat-ul-Mujahideen Bangladesh

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Jamaat-ul-Mujahideen Bangladesh ( JMB , Bengali জামাত-উল-মুজাহিদীন বাংলাদেশ , "Assembly of the Mujahideen of Bangladesh") is an Islamist group in Bangladesh . She is responsible for numerous terrorist attacks on dissenting Muslims and non-Muslims. The organization was founded in 1998 and has been officially banned in Bangladesh since 2005, but remains active underground. The connections and demarcations to other Islamist terrorist organizations are not transparent.

history

Not very many details are known about JMB. The organization was established in 1998 by Sheikh Abdur Rahman, a Bangladeshi in Saudi Arabia trained Islamic preacher and former activists of Bangladesh Jamaat-e-Islami in Palampur ( Dhaka Division founded, Bangladesh). The aim of the group is the establishment of an Islamic state and the introduction of Sharia law . Armed struggle is proclaimed as the means to achieve these ends. Democracy as a form of government is rejected as un-Islamic. The public at the group in May 2002 became known when eight of its members in Parbatipur ( district Dinajpur ) were arrested while improvised petrol bombs and documents were seized on the activities and objectives of JMB. The documents that were seized showed that JMB was running or setting up various training camps and bases in Islamic institutions throughout Bangladesh. After a bomb explosion in Dinajpur on February 13, 2003 and a firefight on August 14, 2003 with police units in Joypurhat , in which JMB was involved, then Prime Minister Khaleda Zia ordered increased police measures against JMB. The group was not banned, however. Partly responsible for the remarkably indifferent attitude of the Bangladeshi government was the fact that at the time a coalition government between the Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) and the Islamist Jamaat-e-Islami ruled. A final ban on JMB took place on February 23, 2005 after further JMB actions. The organization was also placed on the list of banned terrorist organizations in July 2007 in the UK, where a large community of immigrant Bangladeshis live. In the Indian state of Assam , where many Bengalis and immigrant Bangladeshis live and where JMB activists are alleged to infiltrate the border, the activities of JMB have been monitored by the security forces since 2014 at the latest.

The August 17, 2005 bombing

On August 17, 2005, there was a large-scale attack by JMB on the government of Bangladesh, when almost simultaneously 463 explosives exploded in 63 of the 64 districts of Bangladesh. The explosives were small, "home-made" bombs in metal containers with time fuses . A total of 28 explosive charges exploded in the capital Dhaka, including at the Prime Minister's office, at the airport , at the university , the US embassy and the Bangladesh Bank . The terror was primarily directed against government institutions (buildings, infrastructure) and the bombs showed a comparatively low explosive effect, which is why there were relatively few deaths (2 dead and around 100 injured). The government of Khaleda Zia initially accused the Mossad and the Indian secret service as the originator, but then finally stated that JMB was responsible for the attacks. Leaflets in Bengali and Arabic were found at the sites of the explosions, calling for the introduction of Sharia law and the abolition of "man-made laws". Hundreds of arrests followed, and several JMB leaders were charged and some sentenced to death. On March 30, 2007, Abdur Rahman was also executed along with five other JMB leaders. Since then, Maulana Saidur Rahman has been in charge of the underground organization . On May 26, 2010, Saidpur Rahman was arrested with other JMB cadres.

Development after 2010

In the following years there were repeated bombings in various places by JMB, which resulted in dozens of deaths. According to the assessment of the security forces, the JMB split into two main groups in the years after 2010, the "old JMB" and the "new JMB" or "neo-JMB". In the former, the old cadres have rallied, while the latter has established links with the terrorist organization Islamic State and has taken a much more radical path. The new JMB was charged with the hostage-taking in Dhaka in 2016 , in which 20 hostages and 2 police officers died in addition to the hostage-takers. In August 2016 the “old JMB” announced that Salauddin Ahmed (“Salehin”), who had been sentenced to death for the murder of a Christian but was released from prison, was the new Ameer (Emir, leader) of the organization . The leader of the “new JMB” was the exiled Bangladeshi Tamim Chowdhury, who lived in Canada and who was killed in a police raid in Dhaka on August 27, 2016.

While the old JMB recruited its activists mainly from members of the simple rural population who had been indoctrinated in the madrasa , the new JMB recruited many of its staff from the educated middle and upper classes.

The personal strengths of JMB in Bangladesh are assessed very differently. Estimates range from about 100 to 10,000 activists, and another 1,000 to 100,000 temporary supporters. Little is known to the public about the financing of the JMB activities. It is believed that JMB had at least earlier donors in the Arab Gulf states and that there are supporters in Pakistan . According to the police, the old JMB is mainly financed from robberies.

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Jama'atul Mujahideen Bangladesh (JMB). South Asia Terrorism Portal, accessed July 11, 2016 .
  2. ↑ Proscribed terrorist organizations. (PDF) Home Office (UK Home Office ), accessed July 13, 2016 .
  3. ↑ Jamaat-ul Mujahideen Bangladesh is being monitored: Assam Director General of Police, Mukesh Sahay. The Economic Times, July 11, 2016, accessed July 13, 2016 .
  4. ↑ a b 459 blasts in 63 districts in 30 minutes. The Daily Star , August 18, 2005, accessed July 11, 2016 .
  5. ↑ Bombs explode across Bangladesh. BBC News, August 17, 2005, accessed July 11, 2016 .
  6. ^ Warning blasts. frontline.in, September 2005, accessed on July 15, 2016 (English, Volume 22 - Issue 19).
  7. ^ Bangladesh executes six militants. BBC News, March 30, 2007, accessed July 13, 2016 .
  8. ↑ JMB chief Saidur held. The Daily Star , May 26, 2010, accessed July 13, 2016 .
  9. ↑ Jama'at ul Mujahideen Bangladesh (JMB). globalsecurity.org, accessed on July 11, 2016 .
  10. ↑ a b c Suliman Niloy: How JMB evolved to 'Neo JMB'. bdnews24.com, August 17, 2016, accessed October 18, 2016 .
  11. ^ It's official, Dhaka cafe, Eidgah attacks carried out by banned Jamaat-ul-Mujahideen. zeenews.india.com, July 9, 2016, accessed July 13, 2016 .
  12. ↑ Shariful Islam: JMB now regrouping with Salehin at helm. The Daily Star, October 18, 2016, accessed October 18, 2016 .
  13. ↑ Animesh Roul: Jamaatul Mujahidin Bangladesh: Weakened, But Not Destroyed. Combatting Terrorism Center, November 30, 2011, accessed July 13, 2016 .
  14. ↑ 'Old JMB' militants robbing, snatching now to pay for leaders' cases: Police. bd24news.com, October 18, 2016, accessed October 18, 2016 .