| Abstrakt: |
The Al-Qaeda (AQ)-centric new Bangladeshi militant group, Jama'atul Ansar Fil Hindal Sharqiya (JAFHS),1 poses a significant asymmetric threat to Bangladesh and the neighbouring region. Despite key leaders' arrests and the group's apparent weakening, the prevailing instability and collapse of policing in Bangladesh in the chaotic wake of former Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina's ouster and installation of an interim government under Nobel laureate Muhammad Yunus, raise concerns about its potential resurgence. Against this backdrop, this article examines the origins and evolution of JAFHS and Bangladesh's response. Operating from remote training camps in the Chittagong Hill Tracts and collaborating with groups such as the Kuki-Chin National Front (KNF), a Christian insurgent group, JAFHS aims to establish a self-styled caliphate through insurgent violence. Although the group was banned in August 2023 and its leaders have been detained, its advanced training capabilities, strategic alliances and ongoing radicalisation efforts continue to represent a serious security threat. While Bangladesh reforms its police, the country needs to maintain its zero-tolerance policy and restore its counter terrorism capabilities to check the reemergence of militancy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR] |
