Bangladesh on high alert to tackle terror attack: Minister

In the wake of deadly gun and bomb attacks in Paris, Home Minister Asaduzzaman Khan Kamal today said Bangladesh is now on high alert to tackle any possible terror attack.

“Our law enforces are always on alert to deal with any form of terrorism. Efforts were also made earlier to carry out such incidents. They (terrorists) unleashed fire terrorism and violence in 2013 and 2014, but law enforcers contained those efficiently,” he said.

The minister came up with the remarks while talking to reporters after attending a seminar on Fire Safety in High-rise and Industrial Building in Asia at Fire Service and Civil Defence Training Complex in Dhaka’s Mirpur area.

Replying to a question whether the government has any preparation to thwart any untoward incident like Paris ones, Kamal said, “We’re always alert about it. Our intelligence forces are working on that.”

The minister said the government will be able to suppress terrorists and militants as the people of Bangladesh will never give them any shelter and support.

On Friday, gunmen and bombers attacked restaurants, a concert hall and a sports stadium at locations across Paris, killing at least 129 people.

Strongly denouncing the Paris attacks, Kamal said, “We think those involved in the incident are the enemies of mankind. They can’t be considered human being in any way.”

He said the people of the entire world should express their hatred against the attackers and put up a strong resistance against them.

Earlier addressing the opening session of the seminar, the home minister said the development trend of Dhaka city is being shifted towards a vertical direction to cope with the extensive population pressure. These days, high-rises are being constructed in every part of the city, but in most cases the dwellings are being constructed without maintaining the building rules and regulations.

“It’s the high time to prepare ourselves to face these challenges,” he said.

He hoped that research works, valuable views and opinions to be presented in the seminar will contribute a lot towards attaining the nation’s common goal of ensuing fire safety in highrises and industrial buildings.

Senior home secretary Dr M Mozammel Haque Khan, director general of Fire Service and Civil Defence Brigadier General Ali Ahmed Khan and Prof of Tokyo University of Science Tsujimoto Makoto, among others, spoke at the programme.

The fourth seminar of the Forum for Advanced Fire Education/Research in Asia focused on fire safety in high-rises and industrial Buildings in Asia jointly organised by Tokyo University of Science (TUS), Japan and Bangladesh Fire service and Civil Defence.