DHAKA –
Officials of Bangladesh’s anti-terrorism unit have detained five suspected
members of a banned Islamist militant group for planning attacks during
celebrations of the Bengali New Year next month, a spokesman said.

Muslim-majority
Bangladesh has experienced a surge in Islamist violence, targeting liberal
activists, members of minority Muslim sects and other religious groups.

The five
members of Jamaat-ul-Mujahideen Bangladesh were arrested in an overnight raid
on the outskirts of the capital, Dhaka, said Mizanur Rahman Bhuiya, spokesman
of the country’s Rapid Action Battalion, drawn from its police and military.

“Acting
on a tip-off, the Rapid Action Battalion arrested them from an apartment,”
he said, adding that a large quantity of gel explosives and other bomb-making
materials were seized.

He said
the group had been planning to target celebrations of Bengali New Year, the
biggest event in the moderate Muslim nation of 160 million.

At least
five militants of Jamaat-ul-Mujahideen have been killed in shootouts since
November, as security forces have stepped up the crackdown on Islamist
militants looking to establish a sharia-based Islamic state.

The
group has designated no representatives to provide comment.

Celebrations
of Bengali New Year in April 2001 were marred by bomb blasts in Dhaka set off
by another militant group, Harkat-ul Jihad Islami, which killed at least 10
people.

In 2005,
the Jamaat-ul-Mujahideen set off nearly 500 bombs almost simultaneously on a
single day, including in Dhaka. Subsequent suicide attacks on courthouses by
its militants killed 25 people and injured hundreds.

The
group, thought to have been lying low since six of its top leaders were hanged
in 2007, is blamed for a spate of recent attacks, including the shooting of
three foreigners, two of whom died.

The self-declared militant group
Islamic State has claimed responsibility for some recent attacks, including the
killing of a Hindu priest last month, but the government denies it has a
presence in Bangladesh.

– Reuters