Dhaka, Bangladesh (BBN)-Bangladesh police said on Thursday they have arrested two suspected Islamist militants whom they accused of planning to set up an al-Qaeda branch in the Muslim-majority country.
Detectives raided several properties in the Bangladesh capital, arresting five militants, including two members of a little-known local hardline Islamist group, a Dhaka police spokesperson said.
The two admitted during questioning to planning "to set up an al-Qaeda network" in Bangladesh, reports AFP quoting police spokesperson Monirul Islam.
The arrests come after al-Qaeda chief Ayman al-Zawahiri announced earlier this month plans to launch a South Asian branch of the militant network.
Asif Adnan (24) and Fazle Elahi Tanzil (26) were members of the local Ansarullah Bangla Team, blamed for the murder last year of a blogger who was critical of Islam.
Several banned Islamist militant groups operate in Bangladesh and have been blamed for a series of deadly attacks since the late 1990s. But none of them have been linked to al-Qaeda.
Police said local militants have been motivated by al-Qaeda's announcement of the new branch, which it said would "wage jihad" in South Asia.
They have also been spurred by a Bangladeshi-origin British resident whom police were attempting to find after his arrival in the country recently "with a mission to strengthen the al-Qaeda network" here.
"The arrested persons admitted that they are preparing to wage armed jihad under his (the British resident's) leadership," a Dhaka police statement said.
Police released text messages between Adnan and Tanzil, one of which reads: "I just want to be in the land of jihad. Among the Mujahideen. Living a life only for Allah."
Another said: "It depends on the directives of AQIS (al-Qaeda in Indian Sub-continent) and Nusra (an al-Qaeda inspired group in Syria).
In a separate operation, police arrested three militants of the banned Harkat ul Jihad al Islami (HuJI) group and seized bomb-making equipment and a remote-controlled device.
The arrests came less than a week after police arrested the suspected acting chief of another outlawed militant group, Jamayetul Mujahideen Bangladesh (JMB), blamed for a series of explosions in August 2005.
BBN/ANS-25Sept14-7:40pm (BST)