The United States believes that Islamist militancy remains a concern for Bangladesh, US Ambassador James F. Moriarty said on Sunday, after a former prime minister said there was no such threat.
"The recent seizure of weapons in Bhola and continued arrests of JMB (Jamaat-ul-Mujahideen Bangladesh) members throughout the country demonstrates terrorism remains a concern," Moriarty told reporters. Outlawed JMB, which wants to turn the country into a sharia-based Islamic state, killed about 30 people and wounded 150 in a series of bomb attacks in late 2005, police said.
Security forces seized a cache of arms and explosives and arrested four militants from a madrasa (Islamic religious school) at a village near Bhola district town, 350 km (219 miles) south of the capital Dhaka, in late March.