Tezpur (Assam): Pakistan's Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) and al-Qaida agents are aiding militant outfit Muslim United Liberation Tigers of Asom (MULTA) operating in Assam from various places in Bangladesh, intelligence sources said.

The ISI has activated a banned terrorist outfit in Bangladesh – 'Sipah-e-Sahaba', which is providing ideological and combat training to the MULTA, a highly-placed intelligence official said.

The militants have also smuggled sophisticated weapons into the state from a temporary headquarter of the ISI set up at a mosque at Hathijan in Cox Bazaar of Bangladesh.

Two representatives of the MULTA and Harkat-ul-Jehadi Islamic (HuJI), a Bangladesh-based terrorist outfit, attended a meeting at the Hathijan mosque in March. Both the organisations are members of the 'Islamic manch' set up at Ukhia in Cox Bazaar bordering Myanmar, the sources said.

The Manch aims to establish a trans-national Islamic federation comprising organisations in Bangladesh, Muslim majority areas of North East and the Arakan Hills of Myanmar.

Besides, it has been already established that the ISI has been helping several insurgents' outfits like the Peoples' Liberation Army (PLA), United Liberation Front of Assam (ULFA), National Democratic Front of Bodoland (NDFB), Dima Halam Daoga (DHD), National Socialist Council of Nagaland-Issac/Muivah (NSCN-IM), Achik National Volunteer Council (ANVC), Chakma National Liberation Front (CNLF) in the North East.

The Centre had recently submitted a list of 155 terrorist training camps in Bangladesh and sought the deportation of 85 insurgents of the North East from that country.

PTI