Since the crackdown began on Thursday, police have arrested 5,324 people, including 85 suspected Islamist radicals, said police spokesman Kamrul Ahsan. Authorities have arrested suspects in some of the 18 attacks, mostly low-level operatives accused of following orders to carry out attacks, but none has been prosecuted. Almost all the attacks have been claimed by transnational Islamist extremist groups, including the Islamic State group and al-Qaeda affiliates. At least 18 people, including atheist bloggers, foreign aid workers and religious minorities, have been killed in attacks over the last two years. Authorities in Bangladesh said on Sunday that they have arrested more than 5,000 criminal suspects in the past few days as they continue a nationwide crackdown to try and stop a growing wave of brutal attacks on minorities and activists in the country.

Source: The Hindu June 12, 2016 10:52 UTC