How many terrorist organizations are there in Bangladesh?Image Credit source: GettyImages
Concern has once again increased regarding terrorist organizations in Bangladesh. In a recent report of the United Nations Security Council, the possibility of an attempt by Al-Qaeda in the Indian Subcontinent i.e. AQIS to create terror cells using Bangladesh has been raised. In such a situation, the question is how many terrorist organizations are there in Bangladesh and how big is the terrorist network there?
First of all, it is important to understand that there is no official and current data available on ‘how many terrorist organizations are active in Bangladesh’. However, according to BFIU of Bangladesh, the government has declared 8 organizations as terrorist entities and banned them. These include Shahadat-e-al Hikma Party Bangladesh, Jamaatul Mujahideen Bangladesh, Jamaatul Mujahideen, Harkatul Jihad, Hizb ut-Tahrir Bangladesh, Ansarullah Bangla Team, Ansar-al-Islam and Allaher Dal. However, the number of banned organizations and the number of terrorist networks operating on the ground are not the same thing. Despite an organization being banned, its small cells or factions formed under new names can remain active.
Why increased concern about AQIS?
The 38th report of the UN Security Council states that AQIS has changed its structure over time. Now it depends more on small, dispersed and decentralized cells instead of large and centralized networks. Concern has also been expressed in the report about Bangladesh because AQIS may try to create logistics and financial networks and establish terror cells there. AQIS is the regional affiliate of Al-Qaeda in South Asia. According to the US National Counterterrorism Center, it was formed in 2014 by merging several jihadi organizations in South Asia and operates mainly from Afghanistan.
What are the major terrorist networks of Bangladesh?
In the last years, names of organizations or networks like JMB, HUJI-B, Ansarullah Bangla Team, Ansar-al-Islam and ISIS-Bangladesh Network have been coming to the fore in Bangladesh. According to the US NCTC, the ISIS-Bangladesh network carried out 40 attacks between 2015 and 2021, in which 47 people died. However, after 2020, its capacity decreased due to Bangladeshi counter-terrorism operations and weak support of ISIS. Therefore, it would not be right to understand Bangladesh only by the number of old banned organizations. The real challenge is the remaining small cells, new militant groups and their connections to international terrorist networks.
AQIS connection discussed after Red Fort attack
The UN report mentions the possibility of the attack on Delhi’s Red Fort in November 2025 being officially linked to AQIS and Bangladesh being used to create a cell. This increases security concerns regarding terrorist networks and cross-border logistics between India and Bangladesh. That means the number of officially banned terrorist organizations in Bangladesh is 8, but it does not mean that only 8 terrorist networks exist there. The activities of cells and local militant groups linked to international networks like AQIS and ISIS are a separate challenge.
