The parliamentary standing committee on the defence ministry yesterday also disclosed confusion among top officials of the ministry about their responsibilities.

It said there are anomalies in allocation of businesses between the Armed Forces Division (AFD) and the ministry.

Members of the committee at a meeting at the Jatiya Sangsad Bhaban also decided to sit with the intelligence agencies to review the present situation in the wake of a spate of bomb attacks.

"We'll invite the intelligence agencies in charge of national security affairs to discuss the issue with us," Committee Chairman Mahbubur Rahman told reporters after the meeting.

"We want to know how the intelligence agencies are planning to face the militants and to protect our people," committee member and Awami League lawmaker Shawkat Ali told The Daily Star.

The chairman urged all political and social forces to unite like the times during the Liberation War to face militancy.

The AL lawmaker however said, "We have to be united, but we must exclude Jamaat-e-Islami, which has links to militancy."

The committee members except ruling BNP lawmaker and State Minister for Expatriates Welfare Quamrul Islam questioned the existence of the AFD under the Prime Minister's Office.

"The AFD is not fit to function properly under the present parliamentary system of the governance," the committee chairman told reporters.

Shawkat Ali added that all the responsibilities should be transferred to the defence ministry from the AFD.

Chief of the Air Staff Air Vice-Marshal Fakhrul Azam told the meeting they have already asked for restructuring the AFD.

"The air force chief however did not elaborate their appeals in restructuring the AFD," Mahbubur Rahman, also BNP lawmaker, said.

Defence Secretary Mejbah Uddin Ahmed and other top officials of the ministry also expressed their confusion when the committee asked them to explain the term "defence of Bangladesh" mentioned as the first task of the ministry.

"The defence secretary could not explain the term. He is not clear about his responsibilities due to the anomalies," Mahbubur said.

The defence secretary told the meeting he had asked his predecessor and a former cabinet secretary to explain the term. "But no-one of them could explain it; rather the cabinet secretary told me to carry out the work as it was," he said.

The parliamentary body asked the defence secretary, the chiefs of army, navy and air force and the principal staff officer of the AFD to find out the anomalies and submit a report to it in a bid to clear the confusion.

It also asked the government to immediately fill the vacant post of the chief of general staff of army.