Café attack aftermath: Terrorism tamed, but not over yet

Their preceding generations were poor, under-educated and old. But they are just the opposite – young, highly educated, and belong to well-off families.

The latter group is termed neo, self-radicalised through the Internet and home-grown militants who carried out the Holey Artisan café attack in Dhaka's Gulshan in 2016, leaving 22 foreigners and Bangladeshi nationals dead.

After the café carnage, the law enforcers carried out 28 high risk anti-militancy operations across the country to neutralise the networks of the "third generation militants".

On the eve of the Holey Artisan café attack anniversary, police say militancy is now under control, and the terror outfits are no longer capable of carrying out large-scale subversive operations. 

Monirul Islam, a senior police officer who led several major anti-terror raids after the café carnage, said the law enforcers found that the neo-militants or third generation militants did not have any central command or leaders.

"Most of them got motivated by extremist lectures available on the Internet. They also got inspired by terror attacks in other countries," added Monirul Islam, the founder chief of Counter Terrorism and Transnational Crime (CTTC) unit of the police.

"But we can claim success in curbing militancy for the time being", he added.

However, with ever-easy online access, Internet-based radical recruiting, regrouping and training still remain a concern for security officials over maintaining success in future.     

Besides, CTTC Chief Md Asaduzzaman said there are several international spillover effects, such as the drawback of US troops from Afghanistan or persecution of Rohingya Muslims in Myanmar, that could speed up local radicalisation and regrouping – jumpstarting terror activities in Bangladesh.       

Asaduzzaman said the local terror groups so far do not have any link with foreign extremists, but some of them might have their ideologies aligned.

Bangladesh so far has banned seven militant outfits. Counter terrorism officials said newly formed or restructured groups such as Ansar Al Islam, Ansarullah Bangla Team, and Neo-Jama'atul Mujahideen Bangladesh (Neo-JMB) have been behind most of the attacks in the last one decade.

Of them, Neo-JMB members were found responsible for the Gulshan café attack.

The Neo-JMB and a couple of self-radicalised groups revealed their existence in 2013 by carrying out a series of machete attacks on bloggers, writers, foreign nationals and free-thinkers.

Unlike target killings, older groups such as the Jama'atul Mujahideen Bangladesh (JMB) and Harkat-ul-Jihad al-Islami, Bangladesh (Huji,b) would carry out bomb attacks.

The Dhaka grenade attack in 2004 by the Huji,b and the 2005 bombing in 63 districts of the country by the JMB altogether killed at least 26 people and injured around 500. 

The central command of the two groups had leaders with academic careers in madrasas and battle experiences in Afghanistan and the Middle East.
 

Shift: From 2004 grenade attack to Holey Artisan   

There has been a major paradigm shift from the mother organisations to the neo-offshoots in terms of experience, age, training, structural methodology, international connectivity and ideology of the militants, according to a research.

Research jointly conducted by the CTTC and the Department of Criminology at Dhaka University, says militant outfits now prioritise recruiting educated youths.

"In recent years, 47% of the militants have been university graduates, while only 12% are from madrasa backgrounds. Only 3% of recruits are uneducated," noted the research findings.

The research also found that militants are mostly aged between 18 and 30 years.

According to the study, terrorists now use the Internet as their main medium for communication. Encrypted apps, the deep web and social media have all become tools for the modern terrorists.

Unlike the terrorists in the past, militant groups now have strong networks – both within the country and with terrorist groups abroad. Many outfits now follow common or similar ideologies, and have training in using high-tech equipment and fund management, as the research shows.

The research notes that terrorists' targets have also changed, with the focus shifting from random attacks to murdering selective individuals – foreigners, secularists, atheist bloggers, and, most recently, law enforcement officials.

"They have got all the manuals and explosive-making guidelines using encrypted apps like Telegram. And they do not need to meet others – all communication can be carried out online," as stated in the research findings. 
 
After the café attack

In 2016, the Neo-JMB and the Ansar Al Islam orchestrated a total of 53 attacks that claimed 60 lives, including 17 foreigners.

In 2017, the Neo-JMB carried out only one attack, which killed five individuals, including three police officials in Sylhet.

In 2018, the group is believed to have carried out several single-targets killing mostly in rural areas.

The Neo-JMB after the café carnage carried out the highest seven attacks in 2019 in Dhaka and Khulna, but no one died in those subversive activities.     

In 2020, there was a single target killing and three small scale attacks with no death reported. 
 
Foreign recruitment in local outfits?   

If the Gulshan café attack is considered as a halfway mark in the rise and flourishing of the new groups, the terror risks are far from over with the ever-easy access to online-based radical recruitment and regrouping.

Senior police official Monirul Islam said the new addition to the newer groups is an Indian faction operating in the Indo-Bangla bordering areas under the name of JMI.

"It poses an evolving threat of possible collaboration among Bangladeshi and Indian militants to execute any plan," he said, sounding a note of caution.    

Security officials said the Neo-JMB has changed its mode of operations as it has switched to online as opposed to physical activities.

CTTC officials on condition of anonymity said the third-generation militants are now trying to recruit members from other countries, including Turkey and India.
The new recruits act as "lone wolves" or in smaller groups as "packs of wolves".    
 
Successful?
Monirul Islam believes that, compared to its neighbours, Bangladesh can claim success in combating terrorism.

CTTC Chief Md Asaduzzaman said that extremism in Bangladesh is under control. The Rapid Action Battalion (RAB) also claimed that extremist groups in Bangladesh now do not have the capacity to carry out any sabotage.    

Chowdhury Abdullah Al Mamun, director general of RAB, said some extremists are trying to regroup on virtual platforms as RAB intensifies its cyber patrolling.  

"With all the old experts imprisoned or killed in anti-militancy raids, some active terrorists are now trying to master bomb-making from online videos. We found some improvised explosive devices (IEDs) in recent drives," Rahmatullah Chowdhury, chief of the Bomb Disposal Unit of the CTTC, told The Business Standard. 

He said the Neo-JMB members might have already upgraded their skills on explosives-making.

"The IEDs found in the last couple of years had remote control mechanisms and motion sensors," he added.
 
De-radicalization to deal with rising threats 

Monirul Islam said youths are quite exposed to radicalisation threats, and there should be efforts to counteract the ideologies of the extremists.  

"And we must act to de-radicalize the militants," he told TBS.

RAB said it is running de-radicalization programmes and 16 extremists have left the path of violence in recent months as they surrendered to RAB. The elite force said it helped the youths to get back to normal life. ***