After the Soviet Union’s presence in Afghanistan, a militant group was formed in Afghanistan with the help of the then US government. These are the Taliban, their leader was Osama bin Laden. At that time, several Bangladeshi Islamic terrorists also took part in the war with the Taliban to drive out the Soviet Union from Afgan. After the fall of the soviet union-backed government in Afghanistan, the military-trained Islamic extremist returned to Bangladesh and formed an organisation called Huji. They started to chant slogans on the streets of Dhaka, “We all are Taliban-Bangla will be Afghan.”
The Huji leader of Bangladesh Mufti Hannan twice tried to assassinate the current Prime Minister, Sheikh Hasina. Later he was hanged. Recently after the withdrawal of US troops from Afghanistan, Islamic extremist youths from Bangladesh are again going to Afghanistan to join the Taliban. Bangladesh police source ensures that already two extremists have reached Afganistan and a number is on the way to Afgan via Pakistan.
The members of the banned organisation of Islamic extremists are going to Afghanistan again. Top Ansar al-Islam leaders are also secretly encouraging their members to go to Afghanistan. As a large part of Afghanistan has recently fallen to the Taliban, young people are being encouraged to take part in establishing Islamic rule there. These young men have been brainwashed with misinterpretations of Islam. In the meantime, a young boy name Anei has migrated from home to go to Afghanistan. Detectives have received information that many of them reached Afghanistan by sea from Chittagong via Pakistan. The rest are looking for opportunities along the way. Detectives have confirmed this after arresting four members of Ansar al-Islam on 8 May.
Asaduzzaman, head of the counter-terrorism unit of the Dhaka Metropolitan Police, told that Ansar al-Islam claims to be a branch of al-Qaeda in the subcontinent. Recently arrested people said that two of them have migrated to Afghanistan. He added that We are not sure yet. “ “Our message is clear – those who love the country will never be able to do such a horrible thing,” he said. At the same time, they should understand that no one is out of our control. ‘ It is known that in the eighties, several young people left Bangladesh to join the anti-Soviet war in Afghanistan, a large part of whom were students and teachers of the extremist Qawmi Madrasa. Harkatul Jihad Al Islami (HUJI) made its debut on 30 April 1992 at the National Press Club in Dhaka on the initiative of those Afghan-returning fighters. Most of the Afghan-backed Mujahideen joined it. During the Afghan war, they received training in guerrilla warfare and heavy weapons handling. Huji was banned in October 2005.
After the failure of the BNP government at the end of the caretaker government, Huji changed his name again and tried to enter public politics under the name of Islamic Mass Movement or IDP (Islamic Democratic Party). They opened a party office in Paltan and applied to the Election Commission for registration. Intelligence officials, who have been conducting anti-militancy activities, say that for a long time, members of the Huji have been in the face of a series of raids by members of various organisations, including the RAB and the police. Abdus Salam, the head of Huji, Mufti Hannan (later hanged), Sheikh Farid, Maulana Yahya and many other top leaders were caught by the law enforcement agencies. However, former MPs of Narail Mufti Shahidul Islam, Mufti Faizullah and Maulana Abu Bakkar are still staying outside the country with the encouragement and support of Huji members. Huji members called Ansar Al Islam have been active for eight years. Until his arrest, Maulana Jasim Uddin Rahmani, the spiritual leader of the organisation, had been consulting at various times. Later, his devoted follower Maulana Mahmud Hasan Gunbi emerged as a spiritual leader. According to intelligence sources, members of Ansar al-Islam have been secretly working with Rohingyas in Cox’s Bazar for several years.
On 4 March, after the arrest of the head of the operation branch of Ansar Al Islam. Mainul Islam alias Mahin alias Mithu alias Hasan, the organisation’s ‘Sheikh’ Sohan Shad alias Bara Abdullah and Murad Hossain Kabir, the detectives came to know a lot of important information. The arrested Mainul was training children in the name of running a madrasa in Dhaka. In addition, the recent sabotage of Hefazat-e-Islam was aided by Afghan-backed fighters. One of their latest arrests was Maulana Mahmud Hassan Gunbi, the spiritual guru of Ansar al-Islam. The RAB arrested him on Thursday night.
According to the sources, Gunbi used to inspire his followers to take part in jihad most of the time. In recent times, he has raised the issue of Afghanistan in various speeches. He advised his followers to go to Afghanistan at different times. It is known that Ansar al-Islam terrorists have been silent for a long time, but now the situation in Afghanistan has released them. In the meantime, they are communicating with each other using various Internet-based apps. One such close group is called the ‘Science Project’. Three of the 10 young people in the chat group have travelled to Afghanistan. Detectives have confirmed that the two of them have reached Afghanistan. The two are Abdur Razzak of Comilla and Shibbir Ahmed of Sylhet. Razzak studied at a madrasa in Sylhet.
