by IANS - May 12, 2021 05:38 AM
Hardline Hefazat-e-Islam shout slogans
in Dhaka.
Militant outfit Hefazat-e-Islam, which was behind the recent unrest in Bangladesh, has a sub-group called "Manhazi", whose members include some "who had trained in Afghanistan", a senior police officer said on Tuesday.
Dhaka Metropolitan Police's Joint Commissioner, Mahbub Alam also told IANS that banned terror group Harkat-ul-Jihad al-Islami (HuJI) was also showing signs of activity.
According to officials, since the early 1980s, many people went from Bangladesh to Afghanistan to join the Al Qaeda fighting against the Soviet Army. There is no accurate count of how many, mostly madarsa teachers and students, had gone theere, but the rise of militancy in Bangladesh in the 1990s was spurred on by these fighters returning home.