Death of two young people raises fears about jihadi recruitment

Last year more than 50 young people went missing from different areas of the country, at least seven were from Comilla, south-east of Dhaka. One, Al Amin, a student who wanted to return home, was ambushed and killed by another militia group. The government has policies to counter radicalism.

Dhaka (AsiaNews) – The death of two young men at a training camp has put the spotlight again on extremist Islamist groups, which, despite government policies and monitoring of mosques, remain a major issue.

Last year alone, more than 50 young people went missing from different parts of the country and are presumed to have joined jihadi groups. Recently, police discovered that at least two died at a training camp.

The government of Bangladesh has long promoted policies and undertaken initiatives, involving families, to counter recruitment by extremist groups and secure the return of the missing; however, its plans have faced all sorts of obstacles and have cost human lives.

At least seven of the young people who travelled to the camps for indoctrination and training (some via Turkey) are from Comilla, a city of over 1.6 million residents, about a hundred kilometres south-east of Dhaka, in Chittagong Division.

Some of these men were reportedly arrested or returned after a brief period of time. Aminul Islam was not one of them. The 23-year-old, who went by the alias Al Amin, was a student at Victoria Government College when he went missing on 23 August.

He met his death in one of the hiding places used by Islamist groups in Bandarban, a hilly and remote area in the south-east of the country.

After his death, apparently on 15 November, his companions buried him in the mountains; his family tried to retrieve the body for a more dignified burial but in vain so far.

According to some witnesses, the young man tried to return home after he realised that the jihadi path was a mistake.

However, he never made it out; he was ambushed by another, newly formed extremist group, Jamatul Ansar Fil Hindal Sharqsfia, which killed Al Amin and other members of the separatist Kuki-Chin National Front (KNF).

After Amin’s grave was identified, his father Nurul Islam, went to retrieve the remains, but found only a blanket.

Bangladesh is a Muslim majority country; non-Muslims – mostly Hindus, Christians, and Buddhists – represent 8 per cent of the population.

Over the past 10 years, Islamic extremists have killed hundreds of intellectuals, bloggers, secularist and atheist publishers, foreigners, gay people, and members of religious minorities (including Shia Muslims).

For its part, the government has inaugurated many model mosques across the country, where imams teach a vision of the faith that is opposed to jihadism and the radical vision of extremists.

• bangladesh
• islamic extremism
• jihadism
• recruitment
• deaths
• violence