UN report on Al-Qaeda in Bangladesh is speculative: Home Minister

Home Minister Salahuddin Ahmed has dismissed the UN Security Council's report expressing concern over Al-Qaeda's activities in Bangladesh, describing it as speculative. In response to a journalist's question at the secretariat, he made these remarks on Monday.

When asked whether the government is taking the report into account, Salahuddin said, "We are not taking it into account. I haven't read the report yet. From what I've heard from the newspapers, there might be some observations. It was stated there that they conjectured this could happen. We cannot react based on a speculative report."

A few days ago, new information regarding Al-Qaeda in the Indian Subcontinent (AQIS) came to light in a report by the UN Security Council's Analytical Support and Sanctions Monitoring Team. The concern was raised in a report published by the Security Council monitoring team on August 10. Based on the assessments of member states, the report outlines the situation from December 16, 2025, to June 9 of this year.

According to the report, Al-Qaeda's presence and strength in Afghanistan remain unchanged. Its Indian subcontinent branch, AQIS, has evolved from a fragmented group into a regional organization, establishing logistics and financial networks through small or isolated cells rather than large units. The UN also expressed concern over attempts to establish AQIS cells in Bangladesh.

The report cited the attack on the Red Fort in Delhi as an example of AQIS activities, formally holding the organization responsible for last November's attack. Describing this, it expressed concern at one point regarding attempts to establish AQIS cells or small organizational units in Bangladesh, stating that the group is attempting to use Bangladesh for its own interests.

The Sanctions Monitoring Team noted that AQIS is not yet on the sanctions list. They wrote that AQIS has served as the core foundation for "Ittehad-ul-Mujahideen Pakistan" or IMP, a group responsible for several attacks. Among them, an incident on May 9 stands out, when a suicide car bombing and explosive-laden vehicle explosion near a security checkpoint in Bannu, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, Pakistan, left 21 people dead.

According to the report, AQIS top leadership is based in Kabul, Afghanistan, and has been provided with Tazkira (identity cards issued by the Taliban), indicating a close cooperative relationship between the Taliban and AQIS.

Regarding the situation in central and south Asia, the report stated that cross-border attacks between Pakistan and Afghanistan continue to sustain regional tensions in South Asia. While the Taliban government continues to support the Tehrik-i-Taliban Pakistan (TTP), it publicly denies sheltering any terrorist groups. Member states worry that this conflict could create new opportunities for terrorist groups, posing additional security challenges to the region.