Members of Rapid Action Battalion (RAB) have arrested 12 militants including Bangladesh chief coordinator of the al-Qaeda in Indian Subcontinent (AQIS) from different areas of the capital.
Of the arrestees, two are AQIS Bangladesh Chief Coordinator Mufti Mainul Islam and Advisor Maolana Zafar Amin.
Mainul is a former leader of banned Islamic militant outfit Harkat-ul-Jihad al-Islami (Huji).
File photo of AQIS flag
RAB's Media Wing Deputy Director Major Maksud Alam confirmed about the arrest to the Dhaka Tribune.
They were arrested in separate drives conducted in different areas of the capital from Wednesday night till Thursday morning, the RAB official said.
He said: “A large amount of explosives, sharp weapons and Jihadi book were recovered from their possession.”
In a post on justpaste.it on May 12 of this year, the AQIS has claimed responsibility for brutal murder of freethinker-blogger Ananta Bijoy Das.
On May 3, Al-Qaeda Indian Subcontinent leader Asim Umar, in video message, claimed responsibility for killing bloggers Avijit Roy, Oyasiqur Rahman Babu, Rajeeb Haider and Rajshahi University teacher AKM Shafiul Islam.
