Core committee decides to withdraw half of army personnel from field duty

A decision has been made to withdraw half of the Bangladesh Army personnel currently deployed to maintain law and order. The decision was taken at a meeting of the law and order core committee held at the Ministry of Home Affairs conference room in the Secretariat on Tuesday, November 5.

The meeting was informed that fifty percent of the army members would be called back temporarily for rest and preparatory training ahead of the upcoming national election. The decision will take effect from tomorrow, Wednesday. After rest and training, they will be redeployed, and the remaining members will be withdrawn in phases.

Two senior government officials confirmed the matter.

A source said that another purpose of the partial withdrawal is to observe the field-level reaction and the overall law and order situation. Various complexities have arisen due to the army’s prolonged deployment.

However, the source added that the army will remain deployed during the upcoming thirteenth national parliamentary election.

It is worth mentioning that on September 17 last year, following the fall of the Awami League government amid the student and public movement, the armed forces (army, navy and air force) were granted special executive magistrate powers.

The core committee meeting also discussed the law and order situation, provocative statements on social media, the role of the police in the election, and the recovery of looted weapons alongside the upcoming national election scheduled for February.
The meeting was presided over by the Adviser on Home Affairs and attended by the Chief Adviser’s Special Assistant Lutfey Siddique, Senior Secretary of the Ministry of Home Affairs Nasimul Ghani, Inspector General of Police Baharul Alam, and top officials of law enforcement agencies.