Bangladesh on May 25 banned an Islamist militant group suspected of involvement in the murders of atheist bloggers that sparked protests in Dhaka earlier this year. The Home Ministry's move to outlaw the Ansarullah Bangla Team (ABT [6]) comes after police asked the government to ban the group. Police have also charged ABT followers with the 2013 murder of blogger Ahmed Rajib Haider. ABT is the sixth Islamist militant group to be banned in the country, which has seen a rise in militant attacks in recent years. The msot recent slaying of a blogger, which took place two weeks ago in Sylhet city, was claimed on Twitter in the name of al-Qaeda in the Indian Subcontinent (AQIS [7]). AQIS previously claimed responsibility for the February slaying of blogger Avijit Roy [8] in Dhaka. An Islamist has been arrested in connection with his murder but not formally charged. (Channel NewsAsia [9], May 25)
Police also announced the arrest in Dhaka of two suspected ISIS followers who they said were planning to fight for the self-proclaimed Islamic State in Syria. One is said to be a local school teacher and is accused of recruiting students to fight for ISIS. (Jurist [10], May 25)
