Home Minister Asaduzzaman Khan on Sunday warned that armed criminals and or militant groups in the hills of Chattogram will not be spared. “No armed criminals and militants groups will be spared in the hills but the government will take initiative if any criminal wants to return to normal life,” said the minister while talking to reporters after attending the concluding ceremony of the training of 99th recruit batch of the Border Guard Bangladesh (BGB) a Baitul Izzat BGB Training Centre in Satkania upazila here. The BGB force has been strengthened through modern equipment to protect bordering area of the Chittagong Hill Tracts, he said. “After assuming power, the current government has been working tirelessly to make the BGB a modern and international standard border guard and it has elevated to the three-dimensional force after bringing change in its organisational structure,” he said.  

Armed terrorists kidnapped eight people from a stream inside a hill in Jahajpura ward no 6 under Cox’s Bazar’s Teknaf upazila on Sunday. The kidnappers have demanded Tk 3 lakh for each of them as ransom, said family members. Read more: 16 Rohingya including children and women detained in Sreemangal Those kidnapped are Mohammad Ullah, son of Rashid Ahmad, Mostafa Kamal, son of Syed Amir, Md Ridwan, son of Mamataj Mia, Selim Ullah, son of Rustam Ali, Krim Ullah, son of Syed Amir, Nurul Haque, son of Kader Hossain, Nur Mohammad, son of Nurul Haque and Md Absar, son of Rashid Ahmad. All of them are residents of Jahajpura ward of the upazila. Md Rafiqul Islam, a member of Jahajpura No 6 ward, said  eight people including three college students went to catch fish from the hilly stream when they were kidnapped by armed terrorists. Read more: Cases filed against 78 people over Rohingya deaths in 'gunfight' Md Abdul Halim, Officer In-charge (OC) of Teknaf Model Police Station, said that a large police team has been conducting a drive to find out the terrorists. “We’ll conduct combing operation if necessary if we can get the location of the terrorists,” said the OC.

Mentioning that BNP has started terrorist activities again, Information and Broadcasting Minister Dr. Hasan Mahmud on Saturday said that the country cannot be handed over to the patron of terrorists. The minister said these while addressing the tri-annual conference of Chattogram North District Krishok League, held at Chattogram Engineers Institution as chief guest. “Those who used to snatch money from people by building Hawa Bhaban, who installed poles without providing electricity, who attacked grenades on August 21st, who created Bangla Bhai all over the country and killed people, We can't hand over the country to those terrorists,” he said. Read more: Hasan Mahmud to BNP: Don't play with people's lives “Tarique Rahman means the son of corruption and five times champion in corruption. If someone is asked ‘Who is the biggest thief of Hawa Bhaban?’, the answer is Tarique Zia” he said. “If BNP comes back to power, they will peel the skin of everyone's back. We can't hand over the country to those who want to pe people's backs, so everyone should be united,” he added. North District Krishak League President Nazrul Islam Chowdhury presided over the function while Krishak League president agriculturist Samir Chand inaugurated the conference. Chattogram North District AL President MA Salam, its General Secretary Sheikh Ataur Rahman, newly elected Zilla Parisad Chairman ATM Pearul Islam, Central Krishok League leader Akbar Ali Chowdhury, Rezaul Karim Reza, among others, addressed the function as special guests. Read more: Jubo League is enough to face BNP: Hasan Mahmud Earlier in the morning, Dr. Hasan Mahmud, also the joint general secretary of Awami League, visited Chittagong's historic Pologround where Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina will address the public meeting on December 4 as the chief guest.

A U.N. peacekeeping convoy was attacked by suspected terrorists in northern Mali on Wednesday and a Jordanian peacekeeper was killed and three other Jordanians were wounded, the United Nations said. U.N. spokesman Stephane Dujarric said the supply convoy was under sustained fire for about an hour from attackers who used small arms and rocket launchers. Also read:China urges int'l community to do more for Mali's peace, stability U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres strongly condemned the attack and sent deepest condolences to the families of the peacekeepers and the government and people of Jordan, Dujarric said. According to the U.N. peacekeeping mission in Mali, the attack was the fifth incident in the northern Kidal region in just one week, Dujarric said. “It is a tragic reminder of the complexity of the mandate of the U.N. mission and of its peacekeepers, and the threats peacekeepers face on a daily basis,” he said. The Security Council later released a statement condemning the attack and and calling on authorities in Mali to investigate and bring those responsible to justice. The staatment added that council "underlined that attacks targeting peacekeepers may constitute war crimes under international law.” Mali has struggled to contain an Islamic extremist insurgency since 2012. Extremist rebels were forced from power in Mali’s northern cities with the help of a French-led military operation, but they regrouped in the desert and began launching attacks on the Malian army and its allies. Insecurity has worsened with attacks in the northern and central regions on civilians and U.N. peacekeepers. Mali’s military returned to Kidal, a longtime rebel stronghold in the north, in February 2020, six years after its forces retreated amid violence. U.N. peacekeepers have also been deployed in the north. The U.N. force has said over 250 of its peacekeepers and personnel have died since 2013, making Mali the deadliest of the U.N.'s dozen peacekeeping missions worldwide. The U.N. special representative for Mali, El Ghassim Wane, issued a statement Wednesday saying the U.N. mission remains determined to support Mali's people and government in their quest for peace and security, Dujarric said. In August 2020, Malian President Boubacar Ibrahim Keita, who died in January, was overthrown in a coup that included Assimi Goita, then an army colonel. Last June, Goita was sworn in as president of a transitional government after carrying out his second coup in nine months. Also read:France and EU to withdraw troops from Mali, remain in region In mid-May, Goita’s government said security forces had thwarted a countercoup attempt that it said was supported by an unnamed Western government. The accusations of foreign interference come as Goita’s regime becomes increasingly isolated. A day earlier, the government announced that Mali was dropping out of a five-nation regional security force known as the G5. It was also sharply critical of former colonial power France, which announced in February it was pulling its troops out of Mali. While Mali’s junta initially agreed to an 18-month transition back to civilian rule, it failed to organize elections by the deadline in February. Last month, the government said it would need two more years in power before it could organize a vote.

Rapid Action Battalion (Rab) on Thursday claimed to have arrested five terrorists from Rupganj and Sonargaon upazilas in Narayanganj. The arrestees have been identified as Riazul Islam alias Shooter Riaz, 22, Md Zahidul Islam alias Kala Bhagina, 23, Maruf Hossain Munna, 23, Md Selim, 23, and Md Mahbub Miah, 23. Also read: Gang of robbers busted in Gazipur, 6 held Tipped off, a Rab-3 team conducted drives in Rupganj and Sonargaon upazilas on Wednesday night and arrested the five, said Commander Khandaker Al Moin, director of the legal and media wing of Rab. Three foreign-made pistols, three magazines, 12 rounds of ammunition, five sharp domestic weapons, a motorcycle and 600 pieces of Yaba were seized from their possession, he said.

The UN's envoy for Syria on Thursday said terrorists' presence and influence in Syria's northwestern province of Idlib is unacceptable, but a continued all-out military approach will not solve this problem.

Police on Tuesday morning arrested two alleged terrorists and recovered firearms and cocktails from Sawdagar market in Jamalganj Charmatha area of in Sadar upazila on Tuesday morning.