Bangladesh forces raid militant camp, detain 5

The special forces of Bangladesh have raided a training camp operated by a terrorist network in the southwestern Chittagong district of the country, senior officials say.

The Rapid Action Battalion (RAB) assaulted the militants’ camp located in Lotmoni, a hilly remote area of Bashkali Upazila in Chittagong, early Sunday, Bangladeshi Lieutenant Colonel Miftah Uddin Ahmed said.

Bangladeshi police arrested 25 students on February 19 at their madrasa (a school where religious theology is taught) in the town of Hathazari in Chittagong, Ahmed said, adding that the detained students had given information on the camp during their interrogation.

“All arrested persons hailed from different parts of the country, were engaged there as trainers and conducted training of fire arms handling, bomb manufacturing and militants attack to selected militants,” he said.

The RAB’s operation began on Saturday afternoon and lasted until Sunday morning. During the operation, the elite forces arrested five people and seized huge amounts of explosives, ammunition and militant training tools at the camp, which was being run under the guise of a cattle farm.

The militants operated a “strong network” and had a plan to attack Bangladesh, said Lieutenant Colonel Mohammed Abul Kalam Azad, the director of the RAB’.

Noting that youngsters from poor families had been exploited by the network, Azad added, “The trainers showed video films on militancy and encouraged the new militants with lectures and books.”

On January 19, Bangladeshi security forces detained four suspected members of the Takfiri ISIL terrorists in the capital, Dhaka, including a regional coordinator for the militant group who told police they had been trained in Pakistan.

MIS/HJL/SS

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