FOSE :: Focus on Sunni Extremism

It's been more than a BRIEF hiatus

2005-03-02T17:58:00.000-05:00

and I apologize.

The reason for the hiatus was a growing realization that this blog is taking me into dangerous territory. Although I am not posting any privileged information and am doing the same level of work I'd be doing if I were still a graduate student, appearances often are stronger than reality. Therefore, I willingly spoke to management about my little blogging adventure. Unfortunately, I've been so busy I haven't been able to follow up and find out the final answer.

More likely than not I will (willingly) shut this down to avoid any problems. However, I will definitely post when I learn the verdict. If anyone wants to be emailed when I'm sure, please drop me a note at dixiejen (at) gmail (dot) com.

Peace!

Perhaps a brief hiatus...

2005-02-23T19:09:00.000-05:00

...will keep all updated. FOSE may hibernate tomorrow.

BNP responds

2005-02-23T18:04:00.000-05:00

The Daily Star: Bangladesh government has cracked down on the JMJB.

'Bout time. Raise your hand if you think it's because of the New York Times coverage

The VA Network Connection

2005-02-23T16:23:00.000-05:00

Andrew Cochran at The Counterterrorism Blog has a post exploring the relationships between Abu Ali and the Virginia Jihad Network. Mr. Cochran has pointed out that 3 members of the Virginia group were arrested in Saudi Arabia around the same time as Abu Ali's arrest in Saudi Arabia.

For easier extrapolation, I've been working on a timeline sourced from the same court documents referenced by Mr. Cochran. This is timeline for 2000-2001; the rest will be up shortly.

2005-02-23T16:12:00.000-05:00

VA Network 2000-2001

Passing on the Abu Ali story for now...

2005-02-23T06:47:00.000-05:00

... but it's in better hands. Athena from Terrorism Unveiled has the roundup on Abu Ali coverage (referencing also a very good Counterterrorism Blog post) and is continuing to follow the story. I may join in in due time.

Update: Working on learning the background - will have a link or timeline chart up by tonight of the entire network (based on the 2 unclassified indictments only).

No claims for Ashura attacks?

2005-02-22T22:14:00.000-05:00

Last year, attacks against Shia worshippers in Karbala, Najaf, and Baghdad killed over 170 and were linked to Abu Musab al-Zarqawi. Given continued jihadist desires to target Shias and the symbolism of mass casualty attacks against Shias on Ashura, we assumed that the potential for such attacks last weekend remained high.

This year, in total there were about 10 suicide attacks that killed around 50 people over the entire holiday (before and including 20 February), most centered in Baghdad. However, there have been no claims of responsibility, save a 19 February internet statement by al-Zarqawi's group regarding a car bomb against a Shia mosque NE of Baghdad in which at least 13 people were killed. Zarqawi's group denied responsibility for attacking the mosque, claiming the patrol they actually were targeting happened to be "just passing by" the area.

When Ashura came around last year, Zarqawi still had not formally allied with Usama bin Laden. One point of contention in the alliance is that UBL is not in favor of targeting Shia.

Militants held in Bangladesh

2005-02-22T21:40:00.000-05:00

According to Bangladesh's Daily Star (independent, English-language daily) and the Xinhua Internet News , 12 suspected militants were arrested Tuesday in Bangladesh. Six were arrested with bomb-making formulas, masks, wigs and important documents belonging to an extremist organization from Dhamrai.

On Sunday, Bangladeshi police arrested 3 suspected members of the Jagrata Muslim Janata Bangladesh [Reawakened Muslim Masses] (JMJB), a group suspected of terrorizing populations in northern Bangladeshi areas such as Bogra with Taliban-like edicts and whose leader, Bangla Bhai, according to some foreign press has recently been raising funds for jihad. Local police apparently suspect one of them of being involved in the recent attack on the NGO known as the Bangladesh Rural Advancement Committee (BRAC). DakBangla has an interesting analysis on the reasons behind the attacks on BRAC and the Grameen Bank.

The New York Times highlighted Bangla Bhai in a 23 January analysis of Islamic terrorism in the country. I'm not as certain that the JMJB is that much of a problem in the context of international Sunni terrorism as a whole, but I am rather worried about Bangladesh. Recent attacks in Bangladesh include a 27 January attack on an Awami League (opposition party) rally that killed a former finance minister and a 14 February Valentine's Day attack at a university cultural event (the latter probably perpetrated by the Islami Chhatra Shabir, the militant student wing of the Jamiat-e-Islami.)

In other Bangladesh news, the death toll has reached 149 from a ferry accident in the Buriganga River.

Update: Seems as though Sheikh Hasina of the Awami League doesn't think much of Bangladeshi efforts to catch the JMJB leader.

Gov’t Order To Arrest Bangla Bhai A Hoax: Hasina

The Awami League President Sheikh Hasina alleged yesterday that the BNP-Jamaat alliance government had been patronizing terrorist groups across the country, particularly the ‘fanatic outfit of Bangla Bhai’ in the northern region, after losing ground beneath its feet. The Leader of the Opposition brought the allegation against the alliance government when Ismail Mridha, father of Yasin Ali, a slain leader of her party’s Baghmara upazila unit, came to meet her along with local AL leaders at her Sudha Sadan residence in the city yesterday. Terming the orders of the Prime Minister and the State Minister for Home Affairs for the arrest of ‘Bangla Bhai’ as nothing but an eyewash and hoax, Sheikh Hasina said that the anti-state activities of the chief of the fanatic-militant group continued in the country’s northern region with the blessing of the government and particularly two state ministers, who are his ‘godfathers.’ She said the government has been implicating popular leaders and organizers of her party in false cases and killing them using either the armed cadres of Bangla Bhai or its elite force––Rapid Action Battalion (RAB). "None is safe and secure in the northern region as Bangla Bhai is seemingly running the administration there with the backing of the state minister of works Alamgir Kabir and state minister for land Ruhul Kuddus Talukdar Dulu," the Awami League chief said.

Source: The Independent

This and that

2005-02-22T16:56:00.000-05:00

1. Welcome Terrorism Unveiled readers!
2. FoxNews has the info on Abu Ali, who was transferred into US custody today.
3. Although this is a focus on Sunni extremism (not Maoists and kings in a landlocked South Asian country), you may notice Radio Free Nepal up on my weblinks. Check out doverspa at RedState for the lowdown. The ICG has a good article up detailing the current situation in Nepal as well.
4. Administrative: I will be working on formatting the site and getting up some contact information.

FREE MOJTABA AND ARASH DAY

2005-02-22T15:11:00.000-05:00

Today is FREE MOJTABA AND ARASH DAY.

Unfortunately, I'm not Web-savvy enough to figure out how to install the banner.

Via Instapundit

Great guy, great blog

2005-02-22T15:04:00.000-05:00

Erick Erickson was nice enough to link to my Bangladesh article over on his site. Since he doesn't focus primarily on security, he's not blogrolled - but he's a class act. Read his stuff.

Kuwaiti extremist leaders

2005-02-22T14:20:00.000-05:00

I plan on writing a post detailing the goings-on in Kuwait and analyzing its counter-terror efforts. For the moment, take a peek at the incomparable Counterterrorism Blog for information on the designation of Muhsin al-Fadhli as a terrorist financer and MEMRI's transcript of an interview with London-based Kuwaiti terrorism Khalid al-Dusari.

A response to the JihadWatch view of Islam

2005-02-22T14:07:00.000-05:00

Mustayfa Akol over at Free Muslims Against Terrorism has an excellent post entitled, "Why I Am Still Standing Up for Islam and Against Terrorism." I have noticed while lurking at RedState and at JihadWatch the propensity to equate selective passages of Islamic scripture with a belief that Islam is a violent religion. In trying to caveat this view and introduce subtleties, critics have been called apologists or worse. Critics of the JihadWatch view of Islamic theology struggle in attempting to show how this view is bigoted and selective without seeming as though they are whitewashing Islamic history or the actions of al-Qaida. This article is a scholarly argument for how Islam is a religion that does not promote violence any more than other religions that have been co-opted for terrorism or violence, without resorting to the equally wrong and generic cry, "Islam is a religion of peace."

Bangladesh

2005-02-22T13:50:00.000-05:00

Bangladesh, for many reasons related to the Global War on Terrorism (GWOT), is a country of increasing importance to US foreign policy. A secular, moderate, majority-Muslim nation in the turbulent region of South Asia, Bangladesh represents hope to policymakers who aim to prove the compatibility of Islam and secular democracy. However, as a democracy that regularly experiences the effects of political Islam, with shaky institutions and a history of military coups and violence, the quality of this democracy does come into question. Finally, extreme poverty, high population density, porous borders, domestic strife, and a rising religious extremism - albeit in a minority of the population - makes Bangladesh an attractive nation of convenience for transnational group such as al-Qaida and its associated movements. Bangladesh's waterfront location at the intersection of South and Southeast Asia makes it a key transit point by land and by sea and leaves it open to country-based extremists as well, notably from Pakistan, India, and Burma (Myanmar) .

Bangladesh, for all of its weak political institutions, is a democracy that allows political access to Islamists. The worry in Bangladesh's case is that political Islam, legitimate in its own right, will provide a cover for more militant and extremist sectors of the country.

A Nation of Convenience for al-Qaida?

The Afghanistan jihad was a galvanizing force for many Bangladeshi Islamists. Bangladesh terrorism expert Bertil Litner (April 2002, The Far Eastern Economic Review, "A Cocoon of Terror") points out that "American Taliban" John Walker Lindh suggested that al-Qaida directed brigades in Afghanistan were divided among linguistic lines, of which Bengali was one, indicating that Bangladeshis and Rohingya presence must have been significant.

After the displacement of Taliban and al-Qaida from Afghanistan, members of both groups may have fled to Bangladesh for safehaven . Time Magazine in October 2002 alleged, for example, that Usama bin Ladin's right-hand man Ayman al-Zawahiri had fled to Bangladesh in March 2002, and that about 150 armed men belonging to the Taliban and al-Qaida had been transported to Bangladesh by a ship named the M/V Mecca and that 50 others had been similarly transported in 2001.

Indigenous groups with possible al-Qaida ties

There have been many incidents of violence in Bangladesh, most unattributed but thought to be connected with the Harakat ul-Jihad ul-Islami Bangladesh (HUJI-B), an offshoot of the Pakistani group. Formed in 1992, it allegedly received money and support from Usama bin Laden at its inception. According to interrogations done in 1999 by the Criminal Investigation Department of Bangladesh Police, Usama bin Ladin sanctioned about $.4 million for recruiting and training cadres and organizing terrorist and subversion activities in Bangladesh, which eventually fell into the hands of 421 madrassahs recruiting for the HUJI-B. In addition, Fazlul Rahman, a HUJI-B associate and leader of possible umbrella organization "Jihad Movement in Bangladesh" signed Usama bin Ladin's 1998 fatwa declaring holy war against the United States with American citizens becoming legitimate targets of attack.

According to the US State Department, the HUJI-B has at least six camps in Bangladesh. In May 2002, the HUJI and eight other Islamic fundamentalist groups came together to form the Bangladesh Islamic Manch (Association). By the next month, veterans of the Afghan jihad were reported to be conducting training under the auspices of the new alliance in at least two southern Bangladeshi camps.

Also belonging to the new umbrella organization were groups representing the Rohingyas and the Muslim Liberation Tigers of Assam. The Rohingyas are a Muslim minority from Burma (Myanmar) tens of thousands of who fled their state of Arakan due to repression by the military junta. In 1991 over 250,000 fled to Bangladesh and took refuge in the towns of Chittagong and Cox's Bazaar - areas which have become havens for various religious extremists. The Rohingyas were sheltered in more than twenty camps between Cox's Bazaar and the border, and the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) managed to repatriate most of them. However, over 20,000 remained stranded in the camps. 100,000 to 150,000 more, though, continue to live in Bangladesh outside of UNHCR supervision. Many of these refugees may be now working with extremist groups in Bangladesh, although by many indications they are more "cannon fodder" than skilled operators. Reports indicate that many of the Rohingya recruits trained in Pakistan and fought in Afghanistan and Chechnya, along with Bangladeshi extremist groups such as the HUJI-B.

Finally, an emergent group, the Jagrata Muslim Janata Bangladesh also follows a strict Salafi ideology and like the HUJI-B has targeted theaters, university professors, and cultural events. (This group was the focus of a 23 January New York Times article). The leader of the JMJB, a former fighter in the Afghan jihad known as Bangla Bhai , gained initial popularity after pacifying its citizens from a group of leftist marauders. However, similar to the situation of the Taliban, the fundamentalist activities and related attacks of the JMJB allegedly have eroded much of his support. The JMJB does, however, have the support of local politicians.

Prognosis

Bangladeshi militants have never successfully conducted a major attack, and their current sophistication is probably limited; however, increased exposure to transnational Islamic extremist groups will most likely increase their capabilities. We do not know the extent of al-Qaida and domestic terrosit cooperation. Because of increased lawlessness, a lack of government control, and proximity to international borders, the Chittagong/Cox's Bazaar/Ukhia areas of southeastern Bangladesh are still largely opaque areas of concern, with allegations of militants from Jemaah Islamiyah, an al-Qaida affiliated Southeast Asian terrorist group, hiding out in Rohingya camps and meeting with local Muslim groups. Ukhia was in the area in which the Islamic fundamentalist groups gathered to form Bangladesh Islamic Manch, and also to where al-Qaida militants allegedly escaped in 2001.
Although there have been uncorroborated allegations of connections to Jamaat-e-Islami, the JMJB has no documented ties to either the HUJI-B or al-Qaida and has operated mostly in northeastern Bangladesh. However, this group's stated goals of the `Talibanization' of Bangladesh and of jihad against the Untied States is similar to those of both the HUJI-B and al-Qaida. If the JMJB is growing in power and organization, as some foreign press reporting has claimed, it may in the future ally with those groups and/or be co-opted by them.

Bangladesh's porous border combined with inadequate government ability to monitor militant developments make it an attractive transit state for foreign and transnational extremists. In addition, the continued refusal of the Begum Khaleda Zia government to acknowledge that extremism and terrorism are problems in Bangladesh leads to acrimonious debate between the rival Bangladeshi political parties, who blame each other for attacks and bombings, as opposed to focusing on the problems at hand.

Bangladesh is not another Afghanistan; however, it may become another Pakistan. Concerns about Bangladesh are three-fold, first and most important of which is its becoming a fortuitous location for al-Qaida training and safehaven. In addition, however, Bangladesh's proximity to Southeast Asia is a cause for concern, including a possible growing rise of pirate attacks and maritime terrorism in the Bay of Bengal, the porousness of the Burma-Bangladesh border, and a deeper influence from Jemaah Islamiyah. A final concern is the chance of Bangladesh's small group of extremists becoming gradually better organized and close-linked to al-Qaida facilitators. In the context of a new decentralized Sunni transnational network, they both can become more radicalized with broader goals as well as receive the capabilities to carry out those goals.

crossposted at RedState