KNF named in US report
PARBATTA NEWS DESK
The name of the newly risen separatist organization in the hill region, Kuki-Chin National Front (KNF), has come up in the annual report of the United States Department of State.
In the ‘Country Reports on Terrorism 2022’ released on Friday (December 1), the name of this separatist organization surfaced in the Bangladesh section.
Mainly, the report mentioned KNF in relation to the activities of the militant group Jamaatul Ansar Fil Hindal Sharqiya in the Chattogram Hill Tracts.
Based on the events of 2022, the report states that in October of that year, Bangladeshi authorities announced an operation to eradicate Jamaatul Ansar Fil Hindal Sharqiya. Various units of the Bangladesh Police, trained by the United States, arrested several suspected terrorists. However, other parts of the security forces have committed extrajudicial killings and other human rights violations.
The report also mentions incidents related to militant activities in Bangladesh in 2022, including the campaign against Jamaatul Ansar Fil Hindal Sharqiya and an incident of abducting two militants from the premises of a Dhaka court.
It is stated that the Al-Qaeda-inspired group Jamaatul Ansar Fil Hindal Sharqiya, which was training to launch attacks in various parts of Bangladesh, was based in the Chittagong Hill Tracts. In this situation, the Rapid Action Battalion (RAB) conducted an operation against them in October of that year.
According to the authorities, the militant group was conducting its activities in collaboration with the separatist organization Kuki-Chin National Front. Bangladeshi authorities announced the arrest of several members of Jamaatul Ansar Fil Hindal Sharqiya throughout the remainder of the year.
Due to Bangladesh’s stringent counterterrorism measures, only a few such incidents occurred in 2022. Particularly, Bangladesh continued operations against various groups linked to Al-Qaeda and the Islamic State, such as Jamaatul Mujahideen Bangladesh (JMB) and IS-affiliated Neo JMB.
The report notes that Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina and other officials of the Bangladesh government often emphasize zero tolerance against terrorism. However, Bangladesh has consistently denied the presence of global terrorist groups like Al-Qaeda and IS.
There is a cooperative relationship between Bangladesh and the United States in strengthening internal security and combating terrorism. The US government provides support to the Dhaka Metropolitan Police’s Counterterrorism and Transnational Crime Unit (CTTCU) and the Anti-Terrorism Unit (ATU) of the Bangladesh Police, as well as other police units across the country.
Furthermore, the United States provides training to judges and prosecutors of Bangladesh’s Anti-Terrorism Tribunal (ATT). The training includes document management, conducting investigations, prosecuting terrorists, and managing cases related to the financing of terrorism.
