Bangladesh blacklists 12 militant outfits

Dhaka - Authorities in Bangladesh have asked intelligence agencies to closely monitor activities of 12 suspected militant outfits running so-called Islamic activities in the predominately Muslim South Asian country, media reports said Saturday. 'The government has kept watchful eyes on the activities of the 12 organizations listed as terrorist outfits by the immediate-past interim administration,' State Minister for Home Affairs Tanjim Ahmed Sohel Taj told a private television channel. He said that the present Awami League-led alliance government of Sheikh Hasina Wazed was working towards rooting out any sort of militancy. Reviewing the previous list of militant outfits, Hasina's cabinet in mid-March ordered detailed reports on the suspected militants and their activities, the state minister said. The ministry was now compiling information on patrons of the militants, funding, present activities, organograms of the outfits, their links with political parties, operations, recruitment systems, international connections and training, he added. The previous military-backed government of Fakhruddin Ahmed had listed Jamaatul Mujahideen Bangladesh, Harkat-ul-Jihad-al-Islami, Hizbut Towhid, Ulama Anjuman al Baiyenat, Hizb-ut-Tahrir, the Islami Democratic Party, Islami Samaj, Touhid Trust, Jagrata Muslim Janata Bangladesh, Shahadat-e-al-Hikma Party Bangladesh, Tamira ad-Din Bangladesh (Hizb-e-Abu Omar) and Allahr Dal as suspected terrorist grups active in Bangladesh. The Bangladesh Nationalist Party-led alliance government of Khaleda Zia had banned four Islamist outfits - the Jamaatul Mujahideen Bangladesh, Harkat-ul-Jihad-al-Islami, Jagrata Muslim Janata Bangladesh and Shahadat-e-al-Hikma - after a series of attacks between 2001 and 2006. Khaleda's government had captured six militant kingpins who were hanged in early 2007. The current Awami League-led ruling alliance this week formed a high-level committee to tackle militancy as it was convinced that many organizations were involved in subversive activities. The committee is designated to collect information on militant activities, analyse them, and work out strategies and issue directives to fight the threat.