Bangladesh on Sunday said there was no direct involvement of the ISIS in the recent attacks, including on Hindus and others minorities, but acknowledged that homegrown Islamist outfits may be trying to establish links with the dreaded terror group through the social media.
Home Minister Asaduzzaman Khan said Islamists appeared to have set “soft targets” that included Hindus, Buddhists, Christians and even Muslims to grab global attention by staging major terror attacks in the country. “I don’t admit Hindus are their target alone as assault on the Sholakia Eid congregation three days ago and their past attacks on Shiite mosques and rallies indicate their motive,” he said.
“You can see a change in the pattern of their attacks also, initially they staged a series of small attacks on individuals and now they are staging bigger attacks targeting foreigners, policemen and ordinary Muslims,” he said.
Asked if Bangladesh has revised its stance on possible ISIS link to the two recent Islamist attacks in the country, Khan said, “our initial investigation suggests both the attacks were carried out by homegrown Jamaatul Mujahideen Bangladesh (JMB)”.
Bangladesh authorities have repeatedly blamed the outlawed JMB for the recent attacks on secular writers and minorities. “But it appears that they (terrorists) are trying to establish links with ISIS through the social media...However, none of them came from Syria or any other country to stage the attacks,” Khan said.