Top American military officials are set to arrive here to boost security ties, including counterterrorism cooperation, between the United States and Bangladesh, the US embassy said today.
The United States has praised prime minister Sheikh Hasina for looking beyond her borders to tackle the terror menace by floating the idea of a regional mechanism involving all states in South Asia.
Washington has expressed its willingness to equip Bangladesh to combat terrorism, particularly those linked to the Taliban and the al-Qaeda amid earlier warning that Islamist militants may be trying to regroup in the country.
The visits by top American officials underscore the importance of cooperation in security, counterterrorism and humanitarian assistance between the two countries, the American mission said.
"Their discussions will focus on interoperability, readiness in the region, security-force assistance, and bilateral approaches to maintaining regional stability," it was quoted as saying by the privately-run UNB news agency.
The American officials will meet top officials, including Army and Navy Chiefs and senior government functionaries on issues of security and counterterrorism cooperation as well as peacekeeping operations, the embassy said.
US Army lieutenant general Benjamin R Mixon, commanding general of US Army, Pacific, vice-admiral John M Bird, commander of US Navy 7th Fleet, and US Marine Corps major general Randolph D Alles, director for Strategic Planning and Policy at the US Pacific Command will visit Bangladesh separately this month in a bid to strengthen bilateral security cooperation between the two countries
Islamist militant outfits, including JMB and Harkatul Jihad Islami (HuJI), have carried out a series of terrorist attacks to establish a sharia-based Islamic state, leading to the death of hundreds of people in the last few years.
Prime minister Hasina, who survived a grenade attack on August 21, 2004 when HuJI activists hurled 13 grenades at her rally, has underlined her government's determination to root out terrorism from the country.
