Dhaka attack exposes shortcomings in Bangladesh’s security apparatus

DHAKA: The Bangladesh government came in for some sharp responses from the foreign diplomatic community over the terror attack in Dhaka area last week.
At a briefing for foreign diplomats by the foreign office here, among expressions of sympathy and solidarity, the Sheikh Hasina government was at the receiving end of some home truths. Most important is a concern by some countries that if foreigners’ security cannot be guaranteed, it would affect foreign investment in Bangladesh’s crucial garment and textile industry.Certainly the Japanese and Europeans would be affected.
Countries like US have offered assistance in counterterrorism and tech-intelligence cooperation. However, Dhaka has been wary of accepting many of them for several reasons like Washington has in the past tried to pressure Hasina to come to a political “understanding” with Khaleda Zia of BNP. Hasina has refused to give in to the pressure. Second, Dhaka is wary of the US setting up interception capabilities in Bangladesh, which they would find intrusive in domestic politics.
However, as the reviews of the Gulshan attack came in, its also becoming clear that Bangladesh needs to beef up its capabilities, training of police and paramilitary personnel and intelligence gathering. This realization is dawning on the Hasina government because the nature and scale of the attack on the Holey Artisan Bakery cafe in Dhaka's Gulshan area by a bunch of radicalized rich youths has thrown up tremendous challenges for the government. On Thursday Bangladeshi ISIS jihadists swore more attacks in a new video.
The way the attack unfolded showed the distance the Bangladesh security system still has to travel.
Dhaka police responded fairly quickly on reports that terrorists may have entered the posh cafe. Rapid Action Battalion was called in after two Dhaka police officers Salauddin Ahmed and Robiul Islam had already been hit by the attackers. Their poor quality bullet proof vests could not save them. They they were hit in the unprotected neck and under-arm areas and succumbed to their injuries.
The security forces, anticipating simultaneous attacks in other places, moved to secure hospitals, ministers’ enclaves and diplomatic enclaves.
The terrorists first separated the locals from the foreigners. Satya Prakash Ahlawat, an Indian doctor who was in the cafe, ran out alongwith some Sri Lankans and hid behind some bushes. The terrorists asked them to come out, saying they would not be harmed if they were locals. Ahlawat was the only one who did, and his fluency in Bengali saved him. He and other hostages were asked to sit at a table with their heads down. The others disappeared and survived.
The terrorists then went on a killing spree, firing at the remaining guests with an AK-22 and some pistols, before hacking them with machetes and slitting their throats. They photographed their handiwork and uploaded them to the ISIS website. Faraaz Ayaaz Hossain, grandson of one of Dhaka’s most prominent businessman, Latifur Rehman, director in Daily Star newspaper group, is the hero of the incident. Refusing to leave his two friends, Tarishi Jain and Abinta Kabir behind, he was brutally hacked down by the terrorists.
Dhaka security authorities cut off Internet access to the entire area around close to midnight, but it was too late. The grisly photographs had already been uploaded. Hasanul Haq Inu, information minister, said, “Some police officers even tried to speak to the terrorists through some of the hostages, but the phones kept getting disconnected by them, indicating no one wanted to negotiate for anything.” This refutes a rumour doing the rounds here that the terrorists were negotiating for the release of a notorious JMB leader, Khalid Saifullah, who had been arrested recently.
RAB positioned four snipers on the buildings around the bakery. But the order to use the snipers on the terrorists when they were spotted was not given — first, the guns were without silencers; second, the terrorists had carried in backpacks and the security forces had no way of knowing whether they would blow up the place which could increase casualties tremendously.
By 2pm, Inu said, the decision had been taken to storm the place by the army. But for that they had to wait for another 5 hours, while their special team was flown in from Sylhet by the Bangladesh air force. Meanwhile, a contingent of naval commandoes fanned out over the lake next to the bakery to prevent a water escape. Then it was a holding operation.
The terrorists asked the kitchen staff to cook for them, which they did. By early morning, the terrorists let off some of the hostages, notably Hasnat Karim and his family who are being questioned for their possible links to the attackers. The lane leading to the bakery was secured by the RAB.
At 7.45am on Saturday, the army team moved in using an armoured personnel carrier (APC). Instantly, the terrorists came out and started to head towards a hospital across the road. They came under fire from RAB officers and army personnel, ending the worst terror attack in Bangladesh’s recent history.