Pakistani Taliban recruiting actively in Bangladesh, but intel agencies clueless

After years of wreaking havoc in Pakistan, the Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) – a jihadist terrorist group – now appears to be recruiting and expanding its footprint to Bangladesh. The activities of the TTP in Bangladesh, which shares an over 4,000-km-long border with India, might come as a concern to New Delhi. What makes the situation graver is that the Bangladeshi security and intelligence establishment seems oblivious to the threat.

There is evidence of at least two Pakistani Taliban recruits from Bangladesh travelling to Afghanistan via Pakistan. One of them was killed in April in an encounter with the Pakistan Army in Waziristan.

This comes even as Malaysia detained 36 Bangladeshi nationals in June for their alleged ties to militant networks.

The TTP mainly operates in the Pakistan-Afghanistan border region in Pakistan’s Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province.

Reports of the rise in activities of the TTP come even as Bangladesh sees home-grown jihadi groups getting a boost after the fall of the Sheikh Hasina regime in August 2024.

In July, Bangladesh’s Anti-Terrorism Unit (ATU) arrested two individuals, Shamin Mahfuz and Md Foysal, for alleged links to the TTP, according to Dhaka-based The Daily Star.

Bangladeshi authorities are focused on containing the threat through intelligence-driven operations, said the newspaper.

The ATU, established by Bangladesh Police in 2017, targets such threats using advanced intelligence tactics.

The arrests follow a May report by Bangladeshi digital outlet The Dissent, which revealed that at least eight Bangladeshi nationals are currently active in Afghanistan as TTP members.

One of them was reportedly killed by the Pakistan army in April, though news of his death only surfaced in Bangladeshi media in July.

Surprisingly, Bangladesh’s security establishment seems unaware of these developments.

Asifur Rahman Chowdhury, who identifies himself as a human rights activist and a political analyst on X, wrote on Tuesday, “I am wondering about the possible number of active members of the Pakistan-based banned militant group Tehrik-i-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) in Bangladesh. Yet, various officers of ranks like DIG and Police Commissioner from the Yunus-led interim government’s administration have repeatedly stated that there are no militants in the country…”

“Bangladesh authorities arrested a man from Gaibandha for being associated with Pakistan-based terrorist organisation. A rare good job in recent time… (sic),” Soumik Saheb, who identifies as a human rights activist, took a dig at the country’s security establishment and the government.

Now, with two arrests and reports of Bangladeshi nationals actively joining the Pakistani Taliban, more arrests could follow.

Bangladesh is no stranger to extremist violence – a 2016 Islamic State-linked attack in Dhaka killed 22 civilians and triggered nationwide crackdowns on militant networks.

FORMER TERROR GROUP LEADER ARRESTED AGAIN

On July 14, the ATU arrested Shamin Mahfuz in Narayanganj, following his alleged involvement with the TTP. A former leader of Jama’atul Mujahideen Bangladesh (JMB) and founder of Jama’atul Ansar Fil Hindal Sharqiya in 2019, Shamin has a significant militant history.

Previously detained in 2014 for Jamaat-ul-Mujahideen Bangladesh (JMB) recruitment and in 2023 by the Counter Terrorism and Transnational Crime (CTTC) unit with explosives, he faces 10 cases under the Anti-Terrorism Act, Explosives Act, and Arms Act.

In November 2005, JMB marked a grim chapter in the nation’s history by carrying out its first-ever suicide attacks.

Shamin was released on bail in October 2024. He allegedly collaborated with Nathan Bom of the Kuki-Chin National Front (KNF), a Bandarban-based separatist group, to establish militant training camps in the Chittagong Hill Tracts in 2020.

Notably, Shamin and Nathan Bom were close friends at Dhaka University, according to The Daily Star report.

A Dhaka University graduate and former teacher at Bangladesh Open University, Shamin, known as “Sir” in militant circles, was expelled from a cadet college for ties to Islami Chhatrashibir. He is currently under a five-day remand for questioning.

2 BANGLADESHI TTP Recruits TRAVELLED TO AFGHANISTAN

Meanwhile, on July 2, Md Foysal, 33, was arrested at his shop, Bhai Brothers Telecom, in Savar city, based on intelligence linking him to the TTP, The Daily Star also reported.

Foysal allegedly travelled to Afghanistan via Pakistan in October 2024 with Ahmed Jubair, a Bangladeshi national who was killed in a Pakistan Army operation in Waziristan in April 2025.

According to Foysal’s reported confession, he and Jubair were recruited by Imran Haider, an aeronautical engineer who he met in Afghanistan, a central figure in mobilising Bangladeshi youths for militant ideology online and preparing for jihad.

A case was filed on July 5 under the Anti-Terrorism Act naming Foysal and five others — Imran Haider, Rezaul Karim Abrar, Asif Adnan, Zakaria Masud, and Md Sanaf Hasan — for these activities.

Foysal remains in jail pending further investigation, the Dhaka-based daily said.

The arrests align with regional efforts to curb militancy, as seen in Malaysia’s detention of 36 Bangladeshi nationals in June for alleged militant network ties, according to Malaysian outlet New Straits Times.

Regardless of the crackdown, the presence of TTP-linked operatives in Bangladesh is a troubling development for a nation already grappling with political turmoil. It might also be of concern for India.

– Ends