Dhaka:Jan 29: (IANS) Britain and Bangladesh are working to forge strong cooperation to defeat terrorism which is an increasing threat to both countries, Britain’s security minister said on Sunday.

"We must work together as the world including Britain and Bangladesh are under threat of terrorism," Lord West, Britain’s parliamentary under-secretary for security and counter-terrorism, told reporters after arriving in Dhaka for a three-day visit.

"The governments must cooperate with each other against terrorism as the terrorists of different countries are gaining strength through mutual assistance," West said.

Earlier, after meeting with Bangladesh’s State Minister for Foreign Aaffair, Hasan Mahmud, West expressed concern over "radicalisation of young Muslim people".

"Terrorism, an international phenomenon, should be tackled through international cooperation," he said.

He said Britain would extend all assistance to Bangladesh, which has faced a series of bombing attacks by Islamist militants, to combat the menace.

Jamaat-ul-Mujahideen Bangladesh, one of several outlawed Islamist groups seeking to turn mostly Muslim Bangladesh into a sharia-based Islamic state, was blamed for a series of deadly bombings in late 2005.

At least 30 people were killed and some 150 others were wounded in those attacks.

Bangladesh and Britain will continue more talks to give an anti-terrorism commission a good shape, said Mahmud.

"When formed, the group will be able to address the terrorism threat which Bangladesh continues to face," Mahmud said.

Another outlawed group Harkatul Jihad Islami (HUJI) Bangladesh was blamed for attempting to kill former British High Commissioner Anwar Choudhury at a Muslim shrine in northeastern Sylhet town in May 2005.

Choudhury was injured and but three people including his bodyguard were killed. About 50 other people thronging the shrine, 300 km (187 miles) from the capital Dhaka, at the time were also hurt.

Earlier in August, 2004, HUJI in a grenade attack killed 23 people and wounded some 150 others in Dhaka at a rally attended by then opposition leader Sheikh Hasina.

Hasina assumed office as Prime Minister in January after a landslide election win on December 29, 2008.

During his three-day stay in Bangladesh, West will meet Hasina and former prime minister Begum Khaleda Zia, chief of opposition Bangladesh Nationalist Party.