DHAKA: Bangladesh on Monday termed a recent UN Security Council report on Al-Qaeda's attempt to establish cells in the country as "assumption-driven", saying the government is not taking any action based on the report.
The 38th report of the Analytical Support and Sanctions Monitoring Team submitted to the Security Council 1267 Sanctions Committee concerning ISIL and Al-Qaeda said that there was some concern about Al-Qaeda in the Indian Subcontinent (AQIS) "trying to exploit Bangladesh to establish cells there.”
"We are not taking this (report) into consideration. I have not read the report yet. Besides, as far as I have heard, it says they have assumed that such a thing could happen. So, we are not taking any action based on an assumption-driven report," Home Minister Salahuddin Ahmed told reporters while replying to questions.
The report, which was issued and circulated among member states last week, said that "AQIS continued to evolve from a fragmented group into a regional terrorist entity.
"AQIS established logistics and financial networks, working in decentralised small, scattered cells instead of large units. The attack in November 2025 on the Red Fort in Delhi was officially attributed to AQIS,” it said.
Bangladesh police have said they had no specific info on AQIS cell risk.
But a senior Counter Terrorism and Transnational Crime (CTTC) unit officer of police, speaking on condition of anonymity, told the Daily Star that Bangladesh’s counter-terrorism capacity suffered over the last two years, when an interim regime largely ran the country.
The Muhammad Yunus-led interim administration assumed power after a violent street protest toppled then-prime minister Sheikh Hasina’s government on August 5, 2024. The interim regime continued until the elections on February 12, which installed Tarique Rahman’s government.
According to the paper, the CTTC official said that “experienced teams were weakened and surveillance on terrorism suspects released on bail was curtailed” during the past two years.
Bangladesh last month ordered a nationwide security alert, particularly asking police to take care of their own personnel and vehicles, while a separate order was issued to heighten security at airports.
