Home Indian Muslim 24 Kabul-bound militants nabbed in Dhaka

24 Kabul-bound militants nabbed in Dhaka

By IANS

Dhaka : Bangladeshi authorities have detained 24 suspected militants at the Zia International Airport here when they were about to board a plane bound for Kabul.

The group was nabbed Monday just before collecting boarding passes for the Dhaka-Delhi-Kabul flight operated by GMG Airlines.

Special Superintendent of Immigration Police Monirul Islam said: “The arrested people were bound for Afghanistan and they could not give any satisfactory answers about the purpose of their visit.

“We suspect they might have links with militant groups. Otherwise, why should they travel to war-torn Afghanistan?” New Age newspaper quoted the official as saying.

All of them are aged between 15 and 20 years. Soon after their arrest, the authorities interrogated them.

The detainees tried to fly to Kabul with the help of a travel agency on working visas, the newspaper said.

Media reports and western security think tanks have said that Al Qaida has shifted a part of its operations from Afghanistan to Bangladesh after 9/11.

Six militants of the Jama’atul Mujahideen Bangladesh (JMB), tried and convicted for murdering two judges, were hanged in February.

Militants of JMB and other banned outfits said to be regrouping have been nabbed from time to time in Bangladesh.