Editorial: Bangladesh Blasts

THE 300 bombs that went off all over Bangladesh yesterday may have been crude and technically unimpressive devices but the level of organization that went into their being placed in 50 different towns and cities is worthy of note. If leaflets left at some of the scenes are to be believed, the attacks that have slain two and injured dozens are the work of the outlawed group Jamatul Mujahedeen who, with another fundamentalist outfit, Jagrata Muslim Janata Bangladesh, was banned earlier this year. Both have been linked to attacks on local aid agencies. They are also prime suspects in the multiple bombing of a Muslim shrine in the east of the country five days ago and in a similar attack in May 2004 with grenades at another shrine at Sylhet.

This Arab News editorial is interesting. It posits that the rash of explosions across Bangladesh was not Al-Qaeda sponsored, but instead a plea by indigenous Islamic extremists for Al-Qaeda assistance in the future. By raising their profile, the piece suggests, the Bangladeshi extremists are showing that they’re ready for the big leagues… all they need is resources.