Commemorating Niloy Neel - Perished by Al-Qaeda's Sword, Immortal with the Pen.
Bangladesh, especially the secular progressive section of the country, is under attack by two extremely brutal Islamic terror organizations, namely Al-Qaeda in the Indian Subcontinent (AQIS) and Islamic State (IS). Both of these organizations belong to the Sunni sect and they adhere to tow different strategies to establish Islamic rule in Bangladesh. While IS can be thought of as an authoritarian movement that indiscriminately attacks and kills on Shites, Ahmadiyas, foreign nationals and other non-Muslims, AQIS thinks of itself as a populist movement and focuses on targets who have the ability to motivate people on secularism, atheism or any progressive values that AQIS deem as anti-Islamic or pro US. For the time being AQIS affiliated group in Bangladesh Ansar Bangla is avoiding the killing of Sunnis and ignoring other minority groups such as the Shites. As they concentrate on their progressive targets, they want to create an impact on the mind set of Sunni population who they want to be on their side.
Ansarullah Bangla Team - Genesis and Beyond
In Bangladesh, a climate of fear has engulfed the secular activists of the country with the advent of a radical Islamist group. Known under the name of "Ansarullah Bangla Team," its members are believed to be highly engaged in social media and also tech-savvy. Over the past few years, this youth-oriented radical Islamist group stole global media attention after successfully carrying out some fatal attacks on prominent secular activists, bloggers, writers, and publishers. Contrary to ISIS, so far ABT has been meticulous in choosing their targets. ABT has even condemned the atrocities committed by ISIS, standing from its self-defined higher moral ground.