Scepticism runs high on the mysterious killings of two foreigners and the quick claim of responsibility by the Islamic State (IS) as both government agencies and security experts strongly feel that there is no IS in Bangladesh.
According to a report compiled by the secret agencies, the “anti-liberation forces”, enraged by the ongoing trial of those committed war crimes during the 1971 liberation war, are killing foreign nationals to cast the government in a bad light.
The report, reportedly submitted to the Ministry of Home Affairs on Sunday, said the murder of Italian and Japanese nationals were “not isolated incidents.”
Unidentified assailants >gunned down Italian citizen Cesare Tavella on September 28 in Dhaka’s diplomatic enclave and >shot dead a Japanese citizen Kunio Hoshi on October 3 in remote northern Bangladesh.
Although a websites named after >Islamic State (IS) has claimed responsibility of the two murders, it was rejected as “baseless” by the Bangladesh government. Home Minister Assaduzzaman Khan Kamal said: “The IS is not behind these murders … a vested group is seeking to create anarchy in the country.”
Government leaders, a number of security experts and civil society groups viewed that the killings have taken place just ahead of the possible execution of two top war criminals. “We have evidence in hand and our investigators are following the leads. The culprits will be punished,” Home Minister Kamal said.
A number of security experts told The Hindu that there was no evidence that IS is active in Bangladesh, but they admitted that some IS sympathisers were nabbed by the law enforcers while trying to recruit members in the recent past. The “actual killers” are spreading misleading information to derail the investigation, they added.
Meanwhile, the U.S. said it had taken the IS claims that it killed the foreigners in Bangladesh seriously. “The U.S. is working hard right now with the Bangladesh government to verify the IS claims of killing the two foreign nationals,” said Marcia Stephens Bloom Bernicat, the U.S. Ambassador.
Responding to queries at a press briefing after a five-day U.S.-Bangladesh joint naval exercise in Chittagong on Sunday, Ms. Bernicat said the U.S. would remain engaged with Bangladesh as it valued the country as “a strong partner” in countering violent extremism and terrorism.
In Dhaka on Monday, the ambassador added: “We have everything we need to fight the emergence of IS in Bangladesh.”
The murders of Tavella and Hoshi have raised serious concern among foreign missions and citizens in Bangladesh.
Japanese probe team Japan is soon sending a three-member team to look into the murder of its national. Japanese Ambassador Masato Watanabe met the Home Minister and sought security for Japanese nationals. The embassy has updated its security advisory for its citizens, encouraging them to exercise “high level of security awareness” during travels.
The European Union has condemned the murders and expressed hope and confidence that the law enforcement agencies will capture the perpetrators and bring them to justice. The Australian government, in an updated travel advice, has advised its staff to travel only by vehicle in Dhaka. The Canadian High Commissioner in Dhaka, Benoît-Pierre Laramée, hoped that the perpetrators would be brought to justice soon.
