Islamic State threatens more attacks in 'Bengal', meaning Bangladesh

Radical group Islamic State has threatened more attacks in "Bengal" meaning Bangladesh.

Special Correspondentbdnews24.com
Published : 21 Nov 2015, 04:53 AM
Updated : 21 Nov 2015, 11:35 AM

In the latest issue of its magazine 'Dabiq', the group has a full article titled "The Revival of Jihad in Bengal".

"The soldiers of the Khilafah will continue to rise and expand in Bengal and their actions will continue," the article warns.

The article claimed responsibility for the murders of Italian aid worker Cesare Tavella and Japanese national Kunio Hoshi.

"A security cell belonging to the soldiers of the Khilafah in Bengal assassinated an Italian 'crusader' named Cesare Tavella on the streets of Gulshan in the city of Dhaka ... only days later another security cell targeted a Japanese citizen in the northern region of Rangpur," the 'Dabiq' article said.

It claimed that the "back-to-back attacks have caused havoc among the citizens of the crusader nations and their allies living in Bengal and forced their diplomats, tourists and expats to limit their movement and live in a constant state of fear."

Throughout the article, Bangladesh is referred to as Bengal.

But the article does not claim responsibility for the bombing of a Shia procession in Old Dhaka that followed the two murders.

The 'Dabiq' article pulls up the "secular government of Awami League" and claims it has "twisted facts and played a blame game". 

That perhaps refers to the claims by the Bangladesh government that there was no Islamic State presence in the country and that elements out to destabilise the nation were behind the murders of Tavella and Hoshi.

The US monitoring group SITE had earlier said that the Islamic State had claimed responsibility for the murders of Tavella and Hoshi.

The latest issue of 'Dabiq' is full of praise for the attackers of Paris and those who planted the bomb that brought down the Russian airliner in Sinai.

"France haughtily began executing air strikes against the Khilafah (Caliphate). Like Russia, it was blinded by hubris (arrogance) thinking its geographical distance from the lands of the Khilafah would protect it," the magazine says in its lead article.

"Islamic State dispatched its brave knights to wage war in the homelands of the wicked crusaders, leaving Paris and its residents shocked and awed. The eight knights brought Paris down on its knees," it adds.

The 'Dabiq' boasts that 'only eight of our knights armed with just assault rifles and explosive belts' have managed to force France declare a state of emergency.

The magazine carries pictures of what it claims to be the bomb that was planted on the Russian airliner that crashed in Egypt's Sinai desert.