Apprehending trouble that might break out following the arrest of 14 Bangladesh Army officers, Chief of Staff General Waker-uz-Zaman has cancelled his five-day visit to Saudi Arabia that was earlier scheduled to begin on October 14.
Besides, a four-member team of the Indian Army’s Military Intelligence unit, led by Major General Kundan Kumar Singh, will be in Dhaka on a two-day visit between October 14 and 16.
This will be the first major visit by a critical Indian Army unit since August 8, 2024, when the interim government led by Mohammad Yunus took charge in Dhaka.
The Indian Army officers will hold a series of key meetings with different units of the Bangladesh Army, including the Armed Forces Division and the Air Force, besides the Directorate General of Forces Intelligence, the Army Aviation Group and the 10th Infantry Division headquarters.
The Bangladesh Army establishment, acting on Gen Zaman’s orders arrested 14 officers — in the rank of major generals, brigadiers, colonels, lieutenant colonels and majors — on October 11, following an order of the International Crimes Tribunal (ICT) on October 8.
One officer, Major General Kabir Ahmed is suspects to have evaded arrest and escaped.
The ICT order had riled the army establishment, especially the officer corps, which was divided on the issue of arrest.
Anger, frustration and disappointment were expressed at a gathering of 57 generals on October 9 when four officers opposed any move to arrest 24 officers charged for their alleged involvement in enforced disappearances, secret detentions and torture during Sheikh Hasina’s 15-year-long tenure as prime minister.
Gen Zaman, who had earlier cancelled a visit to New Delhi between October 12 and 14, took the decision to not proceed with the “important” trip to Saudi Arabia.
“He is uncertain about the course of events as a consequence of the arrests. He took the decision to scrap his Saudi Arabia visit on October 10,” a source said, adding that this visit will now be rescheduled to a later date.
The Saudi Arabia visit was aimed at discussing the possibility of sending Bangladeshi soldiers for a peacekeeping mission at a certain location in the Islamic kingdom where some 7,000 US troops are currently stationed.
These American troops are scheduled to move out in the next few months.
Bangladesh saw this as an opportunity to send its troops which have had a long history of performing peacekeeping duties under the aegis of the United Nations.
Reports indicate that the US operates a network of military sites across at least 19 locations, including eight permanent bases in Bahrain, Egypt, Iraq, Jordan, Kuwait, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates.
Altogether, there are about 40,000 to 50,000 US troops in West Asia.
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These include soldiers located in permanent bases and smaller forward sites. Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Bahrain, Kuwait and UAE have the bulk of the US troops.
“Gen Zaman does not want to take any chances by going abroad at this moment. He is not scheduled to meet the Indian Army officers, but he will remain in Dhaka and continue to monitor the situation arising out of the arrest of the 14 officers until there are no further rumblings within the officer corps,” a source said.
Gen Zaman’s in-country engagements between October 22 and 30, on matters related to the 66th Infantry Division and annual Commanding Officers’ conferences at Qadirabad and Chittagong, remain unchanged.
