Eight years after the horrific terrorist attack on the Holy Artisan restaurant in Gulshan, the capital of Bangladesh, Dhaka, the leadership, network and reorganizing power of the country’s so-called Islamist militant organizations have been severely disrupted, say police and researchers. However, the militancy did not end completely.
Officials claim that due to the death of several militant leaders, the arrest of a significant number of militants, the decrease in global terrorist activities and the punishment of many in court, the militant organizations have not had the opportunity to reorganize. However,
in the midst of this, incidents like planned escape of two militants from the court in Dhaka have occurred, who have not yet been arrested. Incidents of anti-militant operations have also taken place in some places outside Dhaka.
Analysts say, there is no reason to think that there is no terrorist activity because there are no terrorist attacks. The 6 March 1999 bombing of the Udichi industrial group’s conference at Jessore’s Town Hall Maidan in Bangladesh was considered by law enforcement agencies to be a major upsurge of militancy. After that, in 2001, there were reports of involvement of militants in the bombings in Ramna Botmule and CPB rally in Dhaka.
Then there were many attacks on cinemas, churches. In August 2005, a series of bomb attacks brought the issue of militancy back into the discussion. At one point, the name of the militant organization JMB or Jamaatul Mujahideen Bangladesh came up.
At one stage they were arrested and seven including JMB leader Shaikh Abdur Rahman and Banglabhai Siddiqul Islam were hanged in 2007. Even after that, the names of militants came up in various incidents including the killing of foreign nationals.
However, in 2016, the Holi Artisan attack in Dhaka’s Gulshan, which killed many foreign nationals, made headlines around the world. The police blamed the newly formed organization known as JMB i.e. New JMB for the incident.
