Banned Bangladeshi Islamic extremist outfit Harkat-ul Jehad-al Islami (HUJAI), which is suspected to be behind recent attack on Awami League leader Sheikh Hasina's rally, has camps running in different parts of that country and is imparting training to similar extremist groups from Myanmar and India, a media report said. A five-part article in prominent Bangladeshi newspaper Prothom Alo has reported that HUJAI, which has been declared a terrorist outfit by the US State Department for its Al Qaeda and Taliban connections, has established an active network through 'madrassas' (religious seminaries) and local NGOs to carry out its activities. The HUJAI has been imparting arms training to Islamic extremist outfits like those belonging to the Rohingiya Muslims of Arakan mountains in Myanmar and some Indian organisations.
The areas, where the newspaper sent reporters to investigate the camps, are Bandarban, Naikhangchari, Ukhia, Dailpara, Chandgaon and Khatunganj among others in Cox Bazar and Chittagong district of southeastern Bangladesh. Quoting police officials in Cox Bazar, the article said the HUJAI activists, who were at one point operating openly, were now known to be based in these camps many of which were located on the Naikhangchari No Man's Land. The central Command Headquarters of ULFA and northeastern insurgent outfits like NLFT and NDFB are based in these areas. |