Do more to combat militancy

Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina has urged the UK to do more to combat militancy.

"The British government should take more steps on the ground," the premier was quoted by The Guardian as saying.

In a report titled "British jihadis in Bangladesh fanning flames of extremism, says Dhaka" yesterday, the UK daily said Hasina stressed the need for closer international cooperation to stop the spread of radical ideas "from the west to Bangladesh".

"Certainly we want cooperation from all other countries so that they should be very careful that no illegal money or arms or terrorists should take any chance to create any problem to any other country," Hasina said.

Defending her zero-tolerance approach to terrorism, Hasina said fundamentalist groups and some people are trying to stoke militancy in Bangladesh.

"We are fighting to maintain a secular society … If we lose we will become a centre of global jihadi terrorism," she said, adding the security situation in Bangladesh is under control.

Turning to Jamaat-e-Islami, Hasina said, "Jamaat has a strong influence in east London ... They are collecting money, they are sending money."

The PM's warnings come following the arrest last month of Touhidur Rahman, a British citizen of Bangladeshi origin, who allegedly masterminded the murders of secular bloggers Avijit Roy and Ananta Bijoy Das earlier this year.

Most recently, it emerged that two of the three British citizens recruited by the Isis and killed by British and US drone strikes in Syria last month --  Ruhul Amin and Reyaad Khan -- were of Bangladeshi origin, The Guardian said.