How Bangladeshi Youth Are Becoming Involved with Armed Groups in Pakistan

In the past six months, media reports have highlighted the deaths of two Bangladeshi youths while engaging in combat with Pakistan’s security forces on behalf of an armed group. In July, Bangladeshi police arrested two individuals suspected of involvement with the same organisation. This raises questions about how Bangladeshi youth are being drawn into these groups in Pakistan.

Recent Incidents

Bangladeshi police sources working on counter-terrorism indicate that a recruitment pipeline for TTP from Bangladesh has been active for some time, reportedly led by an individual named Engineer Imran Haider. This information emerged from an FIR filed by the police in July.

Observers monitoring militant activities in Bangladesh note that the involvement of Bangladeshi militants with Pakistan- and Afghanistan-based groups is not new. Public recruitment drives for “mujahideen” have occurred in Bangladesh at different times.

• Al-Qaeda connections exist with a Bangladesh-based group called Jamatul Ansar Fil Hindal Sharquiya, which in turn has links with TTP.
• Police and terrorism researchers assert that these networks often use Bangladesh as a recruitment base for fighters destined for Pakistan and Afghanistan.

A senior police official stated that following the arrests in July, authorities are continuing to gather intelligence about the domestic network supporting TTP operations.

TTP is primarily an alliance of various Pashtun madrasa students and armed factions in Pakistan. Established in 2007 under Baitullah Mehsud, the coalition initially comprised 13 groups.

• Internal disputes led to the formation of splinter factions, though the groups re-unified in 2020.
• TTP aims to establish so-called “Islamic rule” in Pakistan and has been implicated in numerous attacks, including on mosques, schools, and security forces.
• The organisation is believed to recruit “jihadist” members from Bangladesh and other countries.

In recent operations, two Bangladeshi youths, believed to be TTP members, were killed on Pakistani soil within a six-month span. Earlier, in April 2025, Ahmed Zubair died in North Waziristan during a military operation based on intelligence gathered by Pakistan’s military.

Bangladeshi police investigations and FIRs provide insight into the recruitment process:

• Members travel from Bangladesh via Saudi Arabia or Dubai to Afghanistan or Pakistan.
• Arrests in July 2025 involved two individuals: one detained on 2 July in Savar, Dhaka, and another on 14 July in Narayanganj.
• Both were alleged to have connections with TTP and previously linked to Jamatul Ansar Fil Hindal Sharquiya.

Additional reports suggest that at least 35 Bangladeshis were previously arrested in Balochistan, Pakistan. Six of these, along with unidentified associates, faced anti-terrorism charges.

Preliminary interrogations indicated that several recruits were ideologically motivated and prepared for jihad. Engineer Imran Haider was identified as coordinating recruitment, organising members, and promoting extremist ideology and terrorism within Bangladesh.

Bangladeshi authorities have intensified intelligence operations following information shared by Pakistani agencies.

• Arrests in July were a direct outcome of Pakistani intelligence provided to Bangladesh.
• The police are attempting to apprehend additional suspects named in the FIR.
• Reports indicate that arrested individuals facilitated initial selection, basic training, and dispatch to TTP via Saudi Arabia or Dubai.

Previously, on 23 June 2023, one of the arrested individuals and his spouse were detained in Demra, Dhaka, with weapons by the Counter-Terrorism and Transnational Crime (CTTC) unit. At that time, he was identified as the founder of Jamatul Ansar Fil Hindal Sharquiya.

Human rights activist Nur Khan Liton, who has monitored Bangladesh’s terrorist activities for years, commented: “The involvement of Bangladeshi militants with Pakistan- and Afghanistan-based groups is longstanding. Recruitment drives near Baitul Mukarram and other public events have been observed multiple times. While operations within Bangladesh are now more controlled, the deaths of two youths in Pakistan indicate the network has not been fully dismantled.”

The FIR and police investigations provide a clear picture of the transnational recruitment network, highlighting the paths taken by Bangladeshi youth into militant groups abroad.

Source: BBC Bangla