Bangladesh, which is grappling with a string of killings by terror groups affiliated to the Al Qaeda and the Islamic State (Isis), is mulling over blocking access to WhatsApp and Viber in the country.
Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina reportedly announced on Wednesday that the popular messaging and calling apps will be blocked temporarily to prevent terror activities in the country.
Hasina said that blocking WhatsApp and Viber will help the investigating agencies to nab the terrorists, according to The Daily Star.
In the beginning of the year, Bangladesh had blocked several messaging and VoIP apps, including the top five services used widely in the country - WhatsApp, Viber, Tango, LINE, and mypeople.
The Bangladesh Telecommunication Regulatory Commission (BTRC) had then enforced the ban over information of a possible terror attack.
A local report had then said that the BTRC had blocked access to the popular messaging services as the security agencies found it difficult to track communication over these networks.
Bangladesh has witnessed a spate of attacks in the country. Most recently, an Islamist radical group affiliated to Isis claimed responsibilty for a knife attack that killed a policeman and injured another.
Earlier this month, Ansarullah Bangla Team, an Al Qaeda affiliate, released a "hit list" containing names of several prominent Bangladeshi bloggers and writers, including Taslima Nasreen.
The Ansarullah Bangla Team was responsible for killing Avijit Roy in February, Oyasiqur Rehman in March, Ananta Bijoy Das in May and Niloy Neel in August.
Last month two foreign nationals - a Japanese and an Italian - were also shot dead by Islamist radicals in the diplomatic enclave in Dhaka.
