Ever since the brutal attack on Holey Artisan cafe seven years ago, the threat of terrorism has always loomed large in Bangladesh. However, through successful operations conducted by the Counter Terrorism and Transnational Crime unit (CTTCU) alongside cooperation with our international partners, that threat has subsided greatly since that dark day.
According to a recent report from the US government, the 2022 Country Reports on Terrorism, the past year saw less than a handful of terrorism-related incidents due to the administration’s rigorous pursuit of militants, specifically al-Qaeda-affiliated group Jamaat-ul-Mujahideen (JMB), and the IS-affiliated JMB offshoot Neo-JMB. The report further shed light on how the CTTCU investigated 27 cases, conducted 27 operations, and made 61 arrests -- most of which were in the capital.
This is what successful counter-terrorism looks like.
Globalized terrorism presents our country with a raft of new challenges, challenges which require extensive training and knowledge in a field we have had little experience in until recently. Which is why cooperating with other nations is so important in this context. Two years ago, Bangladesh and Indian police forces announced joint operations against terrorism, which signaled a step in the right direction. Given the recent rise of terrorism around Bangladesh’s borders, further cooperation with our regional partners would pay a lot of dividends.
But counter-terrorism should not limit itself to the hard approach, as the soft approach is equally important. It is essential that we start getting into the roots of why people become radicalized in the first place, rehabilitation of existing militants would be a great start to that end. Given that terrorists almost always prey on young, impressionable minds who exist on the fringes of society, we as a society need to place more emphasis on counselling if we want to nip terrorism in the bud.