Dhaka, Aug 22 (IANS) Bangladesh has witnessed a series of explosions and explosive recoveries over the past month. At least two bomb blasts have claimed one life, while security forces have recovered explosive devices from more than half a dozen locations across the capital Dhaka, including near busy transit hubs such as metro stations, a report has stated,
The explosive devices were also recently recovered around major public gatherings, including the Hindu minority community’s Rath Yatra festival in Dhaka. While government officials have dismissed the timing as coincidental, the repeated discovery of pressure-cooker bombs, pipe bombs and other improvised explosive devices at multiple locations suggests more than isolated incidents and points to a “orchestrated” resurgence of extremist networks, according to a recent report in Bangladesh’s newspaper ‘Daily Waadaa’.
“The primary suspect in this resurging menace is Neo Jamaat-ul Mujahideen Bangladesh (Neo-JMB), an ideological offshoot aligned with the rigid doctrines of the Afghan Taliban. Security analysts note that a precursor to the current wave occurred months earlier in a madrasa in Keraniganj, where a premature blast wounded several individuals,” the report detailed.
“Subsequent arrests tied the site directly to Neo-JMB operatives. Yet, the group’s sudden operational recovery is not occurring in a vacuum. It is the direct consequence of the severe political volatility that engulfed the country in 2024,” it added.
According to the report, the upheaval that reshaped the political order in 2024 was accompanied by a sweeping breakdown of the state’s security machinery. As protests and civil unrest intensified, it said, at least 17 prisons were attacked across Bangladesh, enabling more than 2,000 prisoners to escape, including dozens of seasoned militants with longstanding plans for revenge.
The report noted that this physical jailbreak was further compounded by a relaxation within the judicial system. Between late 2024 and mid-2025, it said, nearly 400 individuals accused of serious terrorism-related offences — including members of Neo-JMB, Ansar al-Islam and the pan – Islamist Hizb ut-Tahrir—were granted bail.
“This toxic combination of escaped convicts and bailed extremists has injected experienced leadership back into Bangladesh’s underground networks. Intelligence agencies, reeling from political restructuring, have struggled to maintain effective surveillance on these high-risk individuals. It remains painfully unclear where these men have scattered, who they are communicating with, or how rapidly they are re-establishing operational command chains,” Daily Waadaa mentioned.
Warning that Bangladesh stands at a precarious juncture, the report said, “Dismissing the recovery of explosives as isolated events is a dangerous strategy of institutional denial.”
Last week, the United Nations Security Council (UNSC) warned that Al-Qaida in the Indian Subcontinent (AQIS) has been attempting to use Bangladesh as a base to establish terrorist cells.
The finding appeared in the 38th report of the UN Analytical Support and Sanctions Monitoring Team. The report was submitted to the Security Council committee dealing with the Islamic State, Al-Qaeda, and associated groups.
The report said that the November 2025 Red Fort attack in Delhi was linked to AQIS and highlighted concerns over the group’s efforts to use Bangladesh as a base for building terrorist networks.
The warning comes against the backdrop of heightened concerns about rising extremism in Bangladesh. Recent recoveries of bombs and explosives from areas in and around Dhaka have prompted authorities to intensify security measures, including placing field police on heightened alert and strengthening intelligence surveillance.
–IANS
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