Jason Burke / The Guardian
For many observers of radical Islam, the first reaction to
the attack on the diplomatic zone of Bangladesh’s capital, Dhaka [last Friday]
is that it was utterly predictable.
Over the past year, Bangladesh – an overwhelmingly Muslim
country of 150 million people – has seen growing violence against both
foreigners and locals deemed to be enemies of extremist Islam: secular
bloggers, outspoken critics of fundamentalism, members of religious minorities
such as Hindus and Christians, police officers and others.
Until now, the violence has taken the form of largely
low-tech attacks involving small groups of militants or even individuals armed
with knives or small arms.
Friday’s attack, however, was an operation of a much greater
magnitude. Early reports suggest at least five gunmen, armed with sufficient
automatic weapons and grenades to repel at least one assault by local police.
Western intelligence have been nervous about a major
operation for at least 18 months. Indications of a complex plan to attack a
diplomatic ball last year prompted much alarm – and pressure from western
capitals on Dhaka to move effectively against the militant networks existing in
the unstable south Asian nation.
This did not happen. The Awami League government of Hasina
Sheikh has instead looked to extract political advantage from the situation,
either blaming what is left of the political opposition in Bangladesh, or
denying outright that militant networks linked to organisations such as Islamic
State or al-Qaida even existed in the country, despite their claims of
responsibility for successive killings.
Instead of cracking down on the hardline groups which
encouraged, or even sponsored, the attacks on local bloggers and minorities,
the government effectively made concessions to the conservatives, with the
prime minister implying those who had insulted religious sensibilities were in
part responsible for their fate. Bloggers seeking police protection were
ignored.
So who might be responsible for this attack? Late on Friday,
Islamic State claimed the attack through its affiliated Amaq news agency, but
the group’s involvement could not be confirmed. Both Isis and al-Qaida have
been targeting Bangladesh as an area of potential expansion. Indeed, the
rivalry between the two is key. Isis has mentioned Bangladesh frequently in its
propaganda, while al-Qaida has devoted entire videos to the country, calling on
Muslims in the country to rise up against their “apostate” rulers.
But Bangladesh is far from the central zone of activity of
Isis in the Middle East, and the organisation has never had a strong presence
in south Asia. Al-Qaida, in contrast, was founded in Pakistan in 1988 and has
been a permanent presence in the region since 1996. It sees the region as
central to its strategy and survival.
In 2014, al-Qaida’s leader, Ayman al-Zawahiri, announced the
formation of a new affiliate, al-Qaida in South Asia (Aqisa), and said its zone
of operations stretched from Afghanistan to Bangladesh. So far, Aqisa has
failed to make its mark but it is entirely possible that the attack in Dhaka is
its latest attempt to do so.
Can Bangladesh respond? There has been significant US and UK
involvement with security services in Bangladesh aimed at reinforcing
capabilities. The controversial Rapid Action Battalion (RAB) has been the
recipient of some aid – and has been accused of systematic human rights abuses.
The violence in Bangladesh over recent years has attracted
some interest from the press but very little from policymakers around the
world. Bangladesh, though in a key pivotal position between the Asia Pacific
region and South Asia, has not been a priority in Washington, London or
elsewhere. There has been some focus on the economy – which remains relatively
healthy – but few have paid much attention to the increasingly restricted space
in the troubled country for political dissent, pluralism or traditional
moderate strands of observance.
This attack, however it ends, will make it much more
difficult for both authorities in Dhaka and international observers to ignore
the threat of extremist Islam in one of the biggest Muslim majority countries
in the world.
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