Around 120 officers from the United States Army and Air Force quietly checked into Chittagong’s Radisson Blu Hotel on September 10, officially to conduct joint exercises with their Bangladeshi counterparts, said sources in Bangladesh intelligence establishments. In India’s intelligence circle, the US troops' arrival has fueled speculation amid a noticeable uptick in American military activity in Bangladesh following the fall of the Sheikh Hasina regime.
The contingent, which flew in from Dhaka aboard a US-Bangla Airlines flight, occupied 85 pre-booked rooms at the five-star hotel. Notably, none of the officers’ names were entered into the hotel’s guest register.
On September 14, an Egyptian Air Force transport aircraft also landed at Chittagong’s Shah Amanat International Airport, further raising Indian security and intelligence agencies’ eyebrows. The visiting US personnel were later seen at the Bangladesh Air Force’s Patenga airbase, adjacent to the airport. According to sources, they are expected to leave Chittagong on September 20.
The purpose of the exercise remains vague, with officials mentioning Cox’s Bazar as a likely location. The Bangladesh Army has largely remained cagey about the presence of US forces, apart from acknowledging formal collaborations such as Operation Pacific Angel and Tiger Lightning-2025.
Tiger Lightning-2025 — a bilateral exercise between the Bangladesh Army and the United States Army Pacific Command (USARPAC) — was held earlier at Jalalabad Cantonment in Sylhet. Its focus was on peacekeeping readiness, regional security, and interoperability between the two militaries. Advance teams from Qatar and Thailand were dispatched to Chittagong ahead of the drills.
The sudden influx of American troops comes just weeks after the body of a US Special Forces Command (Airborne) officer was found at The Westin Hotel in Dhaka. The officer, identified by Dhaka Police as Terrence Arvelle Jackson, 50, had arrived in Bangladesh in April and was involved in training Bangladeshi soldiers before his death on August 31.
Meanwhile, aviation trackers have confirmed the arrival of two large US military transport planes at Shah Amanat International Airport, one using the call sign YJ-692.
“The aircraft were identified as C-130J Super Hercules, four-engine turboprop transports widely used for tactical airlift, airdrops, humanitarian missions, and special operations,” said sources in the Bangladesh Army.
Known for their rugged all-weather capabilities and ability to operate from unpaved runways, the presence of C-130Js has reinforced speculation about the scope of US military activities in Bangladesh.
Follow us
