Dhaka, Bangladesh (BBN)-The Bangladesh government has banned the radical Islamist outfit Ansarullah Bangla Team for its involvement with militant and subversive activities.
The militant outfit was declared outlawed when the group’s involvement was found in the heinous killing of three bloggers and writers in less than three months.
Though law enforcers in Bangladesh have claimed the militant outfit’s involvement with the killings, but the killers are yet to be arrested.
The government’s announcement on the ban came through a gazette notification issued by the Ministry of Home Affairs in Bangladesh on Monday.
According to Wikipedia, Ansarullah Bangla Team also Ansar Bangla is an Islamic extremist organisation in Bangladesh, implicated in some brutal attacks on atheist bloggers from 2013 to 2015.
The group has been claimed by police to be linked to Islami Chhatra Shibir, student wing of Jamaat-e-Islami, in Bangladesh.
Five members of the group confessed to the murder of Ahmed Rajib Haider on February 15, 2013.
Another four have been arrested for the attack on blogger Asif Mohiuddin.
They also claimed responsibility for the murder of three atheist bloggers – Avijit Roy, Washiqur Rahman Babu, and Ananta Bijoy Das – and murder of Rajshahi University sociology professor AKM Shafiul Islam.
Terrorism Research and Analysis Consortium (TRAC) adds: Ansarullah Bangla Team (ABT) is an al Qaeda inspired Islamic extremist group in Bangladesh.
The group started its activities during 2007 as the Jama’atul Muslemin, funded by different NGOs.
The group ceased to operate when funding ended.
It resurfaced during 2013 as the ABT.
The group is influenced by renowned extremist ideologues, such as Anwar Al-Awlaki.
The ABT objectives include the radicalisation of youths in Bangladesh, inciting active participation in a local jihad and seeking control of areas in Bangladesh.
The group reflects a young generation of jihadist in Bangladesh, which uses cyberspace extensively in propagating jihadist ideology and training manuals to guide terror attacks.
ABT also uses mosques in propagating its ideological objectives.
On 12 August 2013 Bangladeshi authorities arrested the leader of the ABT, Mufti Jasimuddin Rahmani, with 30 members from Barguna, a south western district in Bangladesh, for inciting a jihad at mosques.
Ansarullah Bangla Team (ABT), also known as Ansar Ullah Bangla Team is an active group formed in 2007.
Earlier Hizb ut-Tahrir, Jama'atul Mujahideen Bangladesh (JMB), Harkatul Jihad Bangladesh (Huji), Jagrata Muslim Janata of Bangladesh and Shahadat-e Al-Hikma faced ban in Bangladesh for their militant activities.