Terrorists still looking for opportunity to strike back: FM

Remembering the incidents like 10-truck arms haul and a fatal grenade attack on Awami League rally, Foreign Minister AH Mahmood Ali on Wednesday said the forces that were active at the time are still looking for every possible opportunity to strike back.
"The government of Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina remains committed that there will be no recurrence of such incidents under our watch," he said while addressing the inaugural session of a workshop on Capacity Building for the UN Programme of Action on Small Arms and Light Weapons and the Arms Trade Treaty at UNCLOS conference room.
He said two events shook the nation in 2004 -- on April 1, people received the news of huge arms and ammunition recovery from 10 trucks while being unloaded at the jetty of the Chittagong Urea Fertilizer Limited.
Then a few months later, on August 21, at the Bangabandhu Avenue, there was the fatal grenade attack at the Bangladesh Awami League rally in Paltan targeting Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, then the Leader of the Opposition.
He said they have seen clear manifestation of that during their indiscriminate acts of terror and violence during the last two years. As a sign of their cruel ingenuity, they have now added petrol bombs and molotov cocktails to their arsenal, a news agency report said.
"Both events were followed by systematic denial and farcical investigations held by the Government of the day."
He said all need to remain vigilant about the illicit transfer and proliferation of small arms, light weapons and related ammunition inside and through our territory.
"We must ensure that Bangladesh is not used as a possible conduit or sanctuary for the billion dollar international trade in illicit arms and ammunition with the growing involvement of non-state actors."
He mentioned that despite our decisive strides in the right direction, they witness the continued and perhaps growing use of small arms in criminal activities, including in the private sphere.
According to some estimates, around 11 – 15% of crimes committed in Bangladesh involve the use of small arms.
“We must work at reversing this trend before it assumes further threatening proportions,” the minister said.
United Nations Resident Coordinator in Bangladesh Robert D Watkins, Director, UN Regional Centre for Peace and Disarmament in Asia and the Pacific, Dr Yuriy Kryvonos and Additional Foreign Secretary Ambassador Mizanur Rahman were also present.