Dhaka, Bangladesh (BBN)-Law enforcers have claimed to arrest 12 militants including the Bangladesh chief coordinator of al-Qaeda in Indian Subcontinent (AQIS) raiding different parts in Dhaka.
The law enforcers also seized huge stash of explosives, bomb-making materials, knives, books on Jihad from their possession.
Further details on the arrest and recovery will be disclosed at a briefing later in the day.
The law enforcers made the arrests during several raids in different parts of Dhaka, the capital of Bangladesh, from Wednesday night till Thursday morning.
The arrestees include AQIS Bangladesh Chief Coordinator Mufti Mainul Islam and Adviser Maolana Zafar Amin.
Mufti Mainul earlier was acting as a leader of banned militant outfit Harkat-ul-Jihad al-Islami (Huji).
On 3 September 2014, Ayman al-Zawahiri, leader of al-Qaeda, announced the establishment of a new branch in the Indian subcontinent in a 55-minute video posted online.
The activity of AQIS came to light when they claimed the responsibility after the brutal murder of writer Avijit Roy in February this year.
al-Qaeda in the Indian Subcontinent (AQIS is an Islamist militant organisation which aims to fight the governments of Bangladesh, Pakistan, India, Myanmar in order to establish an Islamic state.
The militant group has also stated its intentions to attack American targets in the Indian Subcontinent.
BBN/AI/AD