International

Bangladeshi authorities arrested two men suspected of being recruiters for the Islamic State, police said, one of whom works for a local unit of the Coca-Cola Co.

Aminul Islam Baig, 38, had earlier worked as a regional coordinator of the banned militant group Jama’atul Mujahideen Bangladesh, Monirul Islam, a joint commissioner of Dhaka Metropolitan Police, said by phone. The other man arrested is Sakib bin Kamal, 30.

International Beverages Pvt Ltd., a local bottling unit for Coca-Cola, confirmed in an e-mailed statement that Baig is an employee. The company will “fully cooperate with the law enforcement agencies as required,” it said.

In an anti-terror crackdown, Bangladesh banned another militant group, Ansarullah Bangla Team, the home ministry said in a statement on Monday.

The ABT was accused of involvement in the killings of four bloggers, including Ananta Bijoy Das in the northeastern city of Sylhet on May 12, the Daily Star reported on Tuesday citing an unnamed member of the police. It was the sixth group to be outlawed for militant and anti-state activities.

Police have arrested at least 14 Islamic State suspects in Bangladesh over the past year, according to the report.

While Bangladesh is officially a secular country, about 90 percent of its 166 million people are Muslims, according to the CIA’s World Factbook.