Country Reports on Terrorism 2008 - Bangladesh

Jamaatul Mujahedin Bangladesh (JMB), the banned domestic Islamic extremist group responsible for a wave of bombings and suicide attacks in late 2005, remained a threat. During the national Parliamentary election campaign in December, authorities arrested several suspected JMB members and uncovered weapons caches that included grenades and chemicals that could be used to make explosives.

Neighboring India alleged that the United Liberation Front of Assam (ULFA) and other anti-India insurgency groups operated from Bangladesh with the knowledge of senior Bangladeshi government officials. India also blamed the terrorist group Harakat ul-Jihadi-Islami-Bangladesh (HUJI-B) for bomb attacks within India. Bangladesh strongly denied those allegations. The absence of counterterrorism cooperation between India and Bangladesh fueled mutual allegations that each country facilitated terrorism inside the borders of the other.

In April and June, the caretaker government established the Money Laundering Prevention Ordinance and the Antiterrorism Ordinance. These laws facilitated international cooperation in recovering money illegally transferred to foreign countries and mutual legal assistance in criminal investigation, trial proceedings, and extradition matters. The new ordinances are part of the effort to enable Bangladesh to enter the Egmont Group, the international body of Financial Intelligence Units (FIU) that plays a critical role in fighting terrorist financing.

U.S. and Bangladeshi law enforcement agencies cooperated well on several cases related to domestic and international terrorism. Bangladesh cooperated with the United States to further strengthen control of its borders and land, sea, and air ports of entry. The United States began human rights training for the Rapid Action Battalion, the country's premier counterterrorism law enforcement force.