B’desh blames Pak’s ISI, homegrown militants for Dhaka terror attack

DHAKA, JULY 3: Bangladesh blamed “homegrown” Islamist terrorists and Pakistan’s spy agency ISI on Sunday for the country’s worst terror attack in which 20 hostages were hacked to death, ruling out the role of the Islamic State. “Let me clear it again, there is no ISIS or al Qaeda presence or existence in Bangladesh... the hostage-takers were all home-grown terrorists not members of ISIS or any other international Islamist outfits,” home minister Asaduzzaman Khan said. “We know them (hostage-takers) along with their ancestors, they all grew up here in Bangladesh... they belong to homegrown outfits like JMB (Jamaatul Mujahideen Bangladesh),” he said. The Islamic State has claimed responsibility for the killing of the hostages , mostly foreigners, and two police officers during an 11-hour siege that ended on Saturday after the army stormed the Holey Artisan Bakery popular with expats in Dhaka’s diplomatic zone, killing six attackers and capturing one alive. Hossain Toufique Imam, the political adviser to Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, said the way in which the hostages were killed with machetes suggests the role of a local terrorist group, the banned Jamaat-ul-Mujahideen. “Pakistan’s ISI and Jamaat connection is well known... they want to derail the current government,” Imam told a TV channel. The arrested terrorist pulled out at the last minute out of fear and he holds the key to crucial details, he said. Hostages who were killed include a young Indian woman, Tarishi Jain. Nine Italians, seven Japanese, one American of Bangladeshi origin, and two Bangladeshis were also among the people who were killed. Most of those killed had their throats slit. Among those rescued were Indians, Sri Lankans and Japanese nationals, media reports said. Around 30 people were injured. A police source was quoted as saying by the Dhaka Tribune that all the attackers were Bangladeshi nationals aged between 20 and 28. Police said the attackers were well-educated and most came from rich families. “All of them were students and communicated at the crime scene in both Bengali and English,” the police source said. The government has consistently ruled out the presence of the Islamic State in the Muslim-majority nation though experts have been maintaining that series of brutal attacks on minorities and secular activists had the hallmarks of the group. Police have released the photos of the six gunmen killed during the raid. A seventh was arrested and is being interrogated by Bangladeshi intelligence officers. Friends identify three Dhaka cafe attackers, all missing for months After the SITE Intelligence Group published photos of five gunmen claimed by Islamic state that killed 22 people, including two policemen in Dhaka’s Holey Artisan Bakery, friends, former classmates and other acquaintances have started identifying the attackers with the help of social media. The photos of five IS recruits released by SITE on Saturday, show that these militants are young – around 21 to 27 years old. So far, friends and former classmates have identified three of these five attackers and reportedly they seem to come from well-off families and probably had private education, reports the Daily Star. All the three has one thing in common, that they disappeared few months back. Police headquarters on Saturday night released the names of five gunmen with photographs of their corpses. They were identified as Akash, Bikash, Don, Badhon and Ripon, but no other details of the assailants or their motives were given. However, the friends who have identified the attackers have identified different names for three of them through the social media. As per the photo posted by SITE, one assailant has been identified as Nibras Islama. On his Facebook wall, which has now been deactivated, it was found that he went missing from Uttara on February 3. His friends seeking anonymity confirmed that he was missing for the last few months, reports Daily Star. After studying at a top private university in Dhaka, he had gone to pursue higher studies in Monash University, Malaysia campus. He also had a twitter handle and made last post on December 1, 2014. Another assailant identified as Meer Saameh Mubasheer was class 11 (A-level) student. He went missing from Gulshan area between February 29 and March 1 when he was on his way to a coaching center “Eminence”. According to Facebook posts his missing was widely circulated during that time. Meanwhile, one Mahamudur Rahman, who posted on Facebook that Mubasheer went missing on March 1, yesterday posted that he was astonished that on March 1, 2016, he had posted Mubasheer’s photo because he was missing from his campus. But after the photos of assailants were published, he was shocked to see that the guy in the picture and the published photo was the same guy. The third assailant identified as Rohan Imitiaz, son of Imtiaz Khan Babul, was also missing for the last few months. According to Babul’s Facebook post on June 21, he shared an old photo of him with his son Imitiaz, asking him where he was and also requesting him to come back. Rohan’s father is reported to be a city Awami League leader. Nine Italians, seven Japanese, one Indian, one Bangladeshi American and two Bangladeshis were killed in the terror attack at Holey Artisan Bakery in Gulshan on Friday night. Besides 20 people, two senior police officers-Banani Police Station officer-in-charge Salauddin Ahmed Khan and Detective Branch assistant commissioner Robiul Islam were killed while trying to rescue the hostages.