Taliban in Pakistan have threatened to attack the Bangladesh High Commission in Islamabad in retaliation for the execution of war criminal Abdul Quader Molla, a senior Jamaat-e-Islami leader.
“We came to know about the [possible] terrorist attack…[yesterday] morning through a Pakistani newspaper,” Mohammad Ishtaque Hossain, press wing officer of the Bangladesh mission in Islamabad, told the Dhaka Tribune yesterday.
“We contacted the Pakistan authorities and they have deployed additional police around the high commission complex,” he said.
The Nation newspaper reports that the banned Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) threatened to attack the Bangladesh High Commission in Islamabad.
“Law enforcement agencies have submitted a report to interior ministry, quoting a security agency that Taliban have expressed annoyance with the Bangladesh government over the killing of Abdul Quader Mulla [sic] and could attack the Bangladesh embassy [sic],” the Nation report said.
Ishtaque said they had not received any threat letter or phone calls from anybody.
Pakistan Jamaat activists in the guise of a civil society group had demonstrated in front of the Bangladesh mission on December 17, after which more police had been deployed, he said. “They threatened to demonstrate yesterday [Wednesday] but did not turn up because of the police deployment.”
The TTP, an umbrella organisation grouping numerous militant factions, has killed tens of thousands of soldiers, police and civilians in its campaign against the Pakistani state since its formation in 2007.
In late August, the group reportedly threatened to attack the European embassies across the world, including those located in Bangladesh, India and Pakistan.
About the safety of embassy staff, Ishtaque said their residences were located in different parts of the city, and so far, they were not threatened in their neighbourhood.
Another high commission official said: “We can feel that there is hatred. But so far, there has been no crime. We have also restricted our movements.”
About 20 Bangladeshi officials and staff are posted in the Islamabad mission, which is located in F-6/3 residential area, considered as one of the most posh sectors of the Pakistan capital.
Bangladesh government has drawn attention of the Pakistan authorities to the reported Taliban threat. “We have brought the issue to the notice of the Pakistani authorities,” a foreign ministry spokesperson told the BSS.
Without further elaboration, Director General of External Affairs Shamim Ahsan said: “They assured us of doing whatever needed to ensure safety and security of our high commission and its officials.”
The Pakistan National Assembly on Monday passed a resolution put forward by a Jamaat lawmaker and supported by the ruling party, Pakistan Muslim League-N.
Bangladesh summoned Pakistan High Commissioner in Dhaka Afrasiab Mehdi Hashmi and strongly protested the resolution adopted by the Pakistan National Assembly and the Punjab Provincial Assembly, and the remarks made by the Pakistan home minister.
Meanwhile, a foreign ministry official said Dhaka focused on ensuring security of its high commission in Islamabad and the Pakistan mission in Dhaka as both were under threat of protesters. “Both are concerns for the government,” he said.
The government has been in touch with the Pakistan authorities through its Islamabad mission since last week to ensure security of the officials and the complex, he added.
