`Bangladesh unwitting but easy host to terror groups’

DHAKA - The arrest of five Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM) terrorists, including one from Pakistan, last week shows that the foreign operative was using Bangladesh as a base to conduct terrorist operation in neighbouring countries, a Dhaka daily said Tuesday.

The arrests confirm a very unpleasant fact that Bangladesh has become an unwitting but easy host to terrorist groups operating in the region, The Daily Star said in an editorial.

Those arrested include a Pakistani national coordinating Jaish activities in Bangladesh for the last five years. He had recruited several local youths.

One among the arrested is a veteran terrorist, having served a long prison term in India for his involvement in the hijacking of an Indian aircraft, the newspaper said about Belal Mondol alias Billal, who served a ten year term for being involved in the hijacking of an Indian aircraft to Kandahar, Afghanistan in 1999.

Billal should have been handed over to the Bangladesh government and not set free by the Indian authorities, the editorial said.

The JeM has gained notoriety for attacks on important establishments in India; it works hand-in-glove with the Lashkar-e-Taiba, another very dangerous terrorist outfit.

It also confirms the fact that we have very poor intelligence network or database and that there is little cooperation regionally whatsoever, insofar as combating terrorism is concerned.

All the countries of the region have suffered the cruelty perpetrated by the terrorists, some more than others, the newspaper esaid, adding: There cannot be a greater compulsion than this for South Asian countries to put their minds and resources together to eliminate the scourge.