Islamist militant arrested near Rohingya camps in Bangladesh

Dhaka, January 1: A homegrown Islamist group’s militant Sharful Awal arrested near Rohingya camps of border district of Ukhia, Bangladesh on Sunday. Police allege Awal is a member of a new faction of the Jamayetul Mujahideen Bangladesh (JMB), and was involved in organising local extremists.

Awal was freed on bail in January after he was charged with anti-terrorism and explosives-related offences in the Chittagong region, RAB local chief Ruhul Amin said in a statement.

But after his release, Awal "communicated with various international militant groups through social media in an effort to establish Khilafat (a caliphate) through so-called Jihad," Amin said.

The new JMB faction has been blamed for a wave of attacks on foreigners and religious minorities, including the deadly attack on a posh Dhaka cafe last year in which 18 foreigners were shot and hacked to death.

But the RAB's Amin said authorities have not found any connections so far between Awal and Rohingya refugees.

Bangladesh, which had to deal with a huge influx of Rohingya migrants this year, following a crackdown by the army of Myanmar in the northern Rakhine province. Over 6,55,000 Rohingya people fled to Bangladesh since the crackdown began in August.