Mystery surrounded the arrival of five foreign nationals, including four Americans and a Canadian, in Dhaka on January 10 before they toured a few Bangladesh Army cantonments, including the sensitive Ramu-based headquarters of the 10th Infantry Division during their week-long sojourn.
Official documents accessed by Northeast News reveal that the Bangladesh Army headquarters spared two officers to receive the five visitors belonging to Alternative Paths Training School (APTS) at Hazrat Shah Jalal International Airport when they arrived on two separate flights – Thai Airways (TG-321) and Emirates (EK-586) – on January 10.
They were also extended assistance at the immigration desk at the airport’s arrival section.
While the four US nationals, identified as Alan El Tagi, Wren Fitzcharles Patrick Griffith, Joshua Arron Browne and Louis Craig Hartman, landed at Dhaka airport in the afternoon of January 10, Lama Saif Aldee Ayoub, the Canadian national, arrived early evening the same day.
What has caught the attention of some Bangladesh defence officials is that the same ATPS team was in Dhaka in May 2025.
The visitors had toured some Army cantonments in the name of assisting with special needs of autistic children.
However, this time, they visited the 10th Infantry Division headquarters at Ramu, which is a key Army station in Cox’s Bazar district which adjoins the Bangladesh-Myanmar border around which well-armed Rohingya fighters have repeatedly mounted attacks against the Arakan Army in Myanmar’s Rakhine State.
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There is no information on what really transpired at Ramu, but senior Bangladesh armed forces sources said it was “unusual” that five foreign nationals were hosted at the Kurmitola Golf Club.
Inquiries revealed that Alan El Tagi is the Founder and CEO of APTS while Joshua Browne is Deputy Director of the organisation whose mission is to empower “students with essential skills, quality instruction, and support for social, emotional, and adaptive behavioral growth, while expanding opportunities for community engagement and enhancing quality of life”.
Wren Fitzcharles Patrick Griffith is Director of Risk Management and Domestic & International Affairs at APTS which was founded in 2002 and is headquartered at Dumfries, Virginia.
