Militant network in Bangladesh has collapsed: Dhaka police

August 23rd, 2009 DHAKA - Bangladesh has decided not to recognise Kosovo as an independent Balkan state, rejecting a request from the US. Dhaka has made it clear that it would like to keep away (from the Kosovo issue), New Age newspaper said Sunday quoting Foreign Secretary Mirajul Quayes.

August 14th, 2009 DHAKA - A speeding bus hit a tree and crashed into a canal in Bangladesh, killing at least 13 people and injuring 10, reports said here today. The accident occurred in Feni, a town 80 miles east of Dhaka, United News of Bangladesh said.

July 22nd, 2009 DHAKA - Maulana Mansur Ali alias Habibullah, an Indian national suspected of being an organiser of the banned Pakistan-based militant outfit Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT), has been nabbed from Dhaka. The arrest comes within a week of another militant being arrested.

July 21st, 2009 DHAKA - Another militant, who is sought by India and is working for Pakistan based terror outfit Lashkar-e-Toiba, has been arrested by Bangladesh Police. Maulana Mohammad Monsur Ali alias Maulana Habibullah was arrested on Monday night by the Detective Branch of Dhaka Metropolitan Police, after information another arrested Indian militant, Mufti Obaidullah.

July 17th, 2009 DHAKA - A top operative of a Indian terror group -Asif Reza Commando Force - has been arrested for trying to expand his network in Dhaka. "We have arrested ARCF operator Sheikh Obaidullah, who, according to our information, is wanted by the Indian authorities," Deputy Police Commissioner of Detective Branch Monirul Islam said.

May 30th, 2009 DHAKA - Dawood Ibrahim, who is wanted by the Indian government and Interpol, is attempting to expand his criminal network into Bangladesh, a top police officer said here Saturday. "Ibrahim has sent his aides to Bangladesh to expand his criminal network out of India," Shahidul Islam, chief of the Dhaka Metropolitan Police, said while briefing reporters on the capture of two members of Ibrahim's gang - Abdur Rouf Merchant alias Dawood Merchant and Jahid Sheikh.

May 27th, 2009 DHAKA - Bangladesh is mooting a trans-border gas corridor connecting Iran and Myanmar through several countries including India. The move comes close on the heels of its decision to join the Asian rail and road highways, after staying away for years from joining the network.

May 19th, 2009 DHAKA - Over 2,500 border guard personnel have been arrested in connection with the Feb 26 mutiny by Bangladesh Rifles (BDR), Commerce Minister Faruk Khan said Tuesday. Khan, who was tasked with the inquiry into the incident, said: 'At least 1,398 members of the BDR have been arrested in Dhaka, while 1,581 more were held in 29 other districts.' Khan said 585 accused have confessed to their involvements in the mutiny.

May 15th, 2009 DHAKA - Anti-crime force personnel in Bangladesh have arrested Jahedul Islam Sumon alias Mizan, a top militant of the banned Jamaat-ul-Mujahideen Bangladesh (JMB), from the country's Mirpur area. The arrest took place after Mizan's wife set off a bomb that sent Rapid Action Battalion (RAB) personnel running for cover on Thursday night.

May 3rd, 2009 DHAKA - The US government believes that Islamist militancy is still a major concern in Bangladesh, the US ambassador in Dhaka said Sunday. 'We do have disturbing indications.

March 25th, 2009 DHAKA - Bangladesh Tuesday alerted its intelligence agencies and local governments against possible militant attacks on garment industries contributing major export earnings to its economy, a junior minister said. 'We have alerted the intelligence agencies so that the militants cannot unleash attacks on the ready-made garment industries,' Tanjim Ahmed Sohel Taj, the state minister for home affairs, said at a press briefing after a meeting with the leaders of the Bangladesh Garment Manufacturers and Exporters Association.

March 6th, 2009 DHAKA - The Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB) Thursday announced that it has postponed Pakistan's cricket tour to the country scheduled to start later this week. 'The Bangladesh Cricket Board has postponed Pakistan's tour of Bangladesh 2009 as advised by the government authorities,' the BCB said in a brief statement.

February 26th, 2009 DHAKA - The mobile network in Bangladesh, except in parts of capital city Dhaka has been suspended due to the crisis following Wednesday's mutiny by troopers of paramilitary Bangladesh Rifles (BDR) against their army officers. A senior official of Bangladesh Telecommunication Regulatory Commission (BTRC) told Xinhua on condition of anonymity that they have asked the country's cellphone operators to disconnect mobile communications until further orders, following a government direction.

February 25th, 2009 DHAKA - Bangladesh's border guards Bangladesh Rifles (BDR), whose troopers mutinied in Dhaka Wednesday, has a military history going back more than 200 years. Today a paramilitary force guarding the country's 4,427 km long border, the Bangladesh Rifles was raised in 1795 as the Ramgarh Local Battalion.

February 9th, 2009 DHAKA - Dhaka and Moscow have expressed their willingness to sign a free trade agreement (FTA), Bangladesh's foreign ministry said Tuesday. The volume of Russia-Bangladesh trade was at present $250 million and there was opportunity to expand trade by signing an FTA, Russian Ambassador Gennady Trotsenko to Dhaka was quoted as saying in a meeting here with Bangladesh's Foreign Minister Dipu Moni.