Like Many Islamic Terrorists, Bangladesh Attackers Well-Educated, Well-Of

(CNSNews.com) – In the aftermath of a deadly terrorist attack on a restaurant in the Bangladeshi capital’s diplomatic quarter, the country is struggling to come to terms with the fact that most of the perpetrators were well-educated and wealthy – far from the stereotype of the impoverished and embittered jihadi recruit.

But a regional security expert said the fact people reacted to this with “astonishment” was in itself astonishing, given the documentation that calls into question the terror-poverty link proposition.

“The terrorists were from well-to-do families and were flamboyant young men,” the head of Bangladesh’s elite anti-terror unit, the Rapid Action Battalion, told India’s NDTV network.

“It is difficult to imagine how they were radicalized,” said Benazir Ahmed. “At least four come from very wealthy backgrounds.

Ahmed said only one of the terrorists had been educated at a madrassa. The mostly privately-run Islamic schools have at times been associated, especially in the South Asian context, with radical ideology.

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