The Counter Terrorism and Transnational Crime (CTTC) unit of Dhaka Metropolitan Police arrested five suspected members of banned militant outfit Harkat-ul-Jihad al-Islami (HuJI) and a member of Al Qaeda from different parts of the capital on Friday. The arrestees were Fakhrul Islam, 58, Saiful Islam, 24, Suruzzaman, 45, Abdullah Al Mamun, 46, Din Islam, 25 and Mohammad Abdullah Al Mamun, 46. During the drives, the law enforcers also seized nine mobile phone sets from their possession, said Md Asaduzzaman, chief of the Counter Terrorism and Transnational Crime unit, in a press briefing on Saturday. Fakhrul, who was a security guard at Tamirul Millat Madrasa in Gazipur, went to Pakistan in 1988 where he met a Bangladeshi-born Al-Qaeda commander Mufti Jakir Hossain. Later,  Fakhrul went to Afghanistan with Mufti Jakir several times and took arms training, he said. During the training, Fakhrul learned use of various firearms including AK-47, LMG, rocket launcher and other heavy weapons. Read more: Mastermind behind militant escape from custody identified: CTTC Chief He then met Al-Qaeda leader Mullah Omar and Osama bin Laden, the CTTC chief said. He returned to Karachi, Pakistan after completing jihadi training  in Afghanistan. From Karachi, he went to Tehran, the capital of Iran in 1995 and returned to Karachi after staying there for about 3 years. Fakhrul returned to Bangladesh in 1998. Besides, Hafez Md Abdullah Al Mamun ran a social media group by using encrypted apps to communicate among themselves, Asaduzzaman said. He also created a YouTube channel where he shared extremism-provoking contents including bomb-making manuals and videos to other members, MD Asaduzzaman said in the briefing. A case under the Anti-Terrorism Act was lodged against the arrestees.

Counter Terrorism and Transnational Crime (CTTC) of Dhaka Metropolitan Police has arrested six suspected militants who were inspired by international militant group Al Qaeda. The detainees were Abdur Rob, 28, Md Sakib, 23, Md Shamim Hossain, 18, Md Nadim Sheikh, 19, Md Absar, 20, and Md Saeed Uddin, 18. A team of city intelligence analysis division of CTTC conducted drives in the capital’s Sayedabad Bus Terminal, Chattogam and Teknaf Teknaf and detained them on Sunday, said a press release of CTTC on Monday. Read more: Jamaat chief knew his son was member of militant group: CTTC chief During primary interrogation, the detainees said that they used to form gangs by communicating on social media and online based apps. They were staying in Teknaf for launching jihad in the country after receiving training with local associates. Detainee Abdur Rob left for Saudi-Arabia last June in 2019 after studying at a Qawmi madrasa here. While staying in Saudi Arabia, he was inspired to join jihad seeing various jihadi posts and videos online, said the release. Rob used to work as a  moderator and bring everyone together online to discuss sharia-based state formation, Jihad, etc. Later, they got acquainted with a Bangladeshi who lives in abroad and established contact via audio-video calls, it said. That member introduced everyone to another Bangladeshi in Libya and a local man from Teknaf. In the joint discussion, it was decided that Abdur Rob, Shamim, SaKib, Nadim, Saeed and others who are willing to migrate will first go to Teknaf and receive training through their local associates for waging jihad for the establishment of Islamic rule in Bangladesh, it added. Read more: Top Ansar al-Islam leaders behind militants’ escape from Dhaka court: CTTC chief On November 22 last year, Abdur Rob arrived in the country and rented a house for planning and counseling. A case has been filed at Jatrabari police station against the detainees under the Anti-Terrorism Act, said the release.

Last Saturday, AQAP published a video depicting a United Nations employee who had been abducted more than six months prior, SITE Intelligence Group reported. In the video, AKM Sufiul Anam, a United Nations official identified as a Bangladeshi, said, “Currently I am held captive by Al Qaeda. It has been six months since I’m held captive in a place I do not know. My family does not know where I am. If I die, my family will not be able to know.” In the video message, ostensibly shot on August 9, Sufiul Anam was also heard pleading “the UN, the international community, the humanitarian organisations, to please come forward... and meet the demands of my captors”, without specifying the demands. Read: UNGA lauds Bangladesh’s leadership in promoting culture of peace The 65-year-old Bangladeshi claimed that he was in urgent need of hospitalisation due to major health issues. Sufiul Anam, identified as “director of the United Nations Office of Security and Safety in Yemen”, and four coworkers were abducted on February 11. Following the video and media reports on it, a relative of the abducted Bangladeshi UN official – on her Facebook profile – sought help from media, Bangladesh government, the UN, and other relevant organizations in freeing Sufiul Anam and his team. Sadia Hedayet wrote: “More than 6 months back, my uncle Sufiul Anam was abducted when him and his team were returning from a field mission near Aden, Yemen. He had retired as a Lieutenant Colonel of Bangladesh Army and has been serving as Field Security Coordination Head for UN Department of Safety and Security. He is set to retire this year after his United Nations career spanning about 17 years, during which he served in some of the most dangerous places in the world.” Read: 3 kidnapped labourers rescued from Ctg hill tracts “He is one of the bravest people I have ever met in my life. Sometimes when I am sitting by myself, I think what must have gone on in his mind when he was being taken. I think he tried to logically reason with them because that’s who he is.” “It has been more than six months that he has been held captive along with his colleagues from the UN. This is the first time in a long time that we have got an update that he is alive through a video released by his captors. But he is not okay. He is 60+ years old. He suffers from hypertension and diabetes. He has not seen daylight in 6 months…” “I am putting this message out there, as a desperate plea to bring attention to this issue. We are helpless, we don’t know how to help our uncle except this.” 

Al Qaeda’s second-in-command was killed in Iran in August by Israeli operatives acting at the behest of the United States, the New York Times reported on Friday citing intelligence officials.