Bangladesh Prime Minister Khaleda Zia on Thursday reaffirmed her government's determination to crack down on militants who have killed at least 28 people in the past year.
"We have mobilised all our forces and succeeded in arresting most of those who committed crime and violence in the name of religion," Zia told a meeting of South Asian home (interior) ministers in the Bangladesh capital Dhaka.
The home ministers, meeting for the first time in the history of the seven-member South Asian Association for Regional Co-operation (Saarc), discussed co-operation to tackle terrorism and drug trafficking.
Saarc groups Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, the Maldives, Nepal, Pakistan and Sri Lanka.
"Terrorism has dealt a severe blow to the economic activities and growth potential of the region and we are firm (in our resolve) to tackle these problems," Bangladesh Home Minister Lutfuzzaman Babar told reporters.