8 years ago
Four persons including a policeman were killed and seven were wounded on Thursday after a bomb blast and gun-battle near a mass Eid prayer gathering in Bangladesh's Kishoreganj district. The attack - the first on Muslims during Eid in Bangladesh - took place 140 km from capital Dhaka, where seven terrorists attacked a popular cafe last Friday, killing 22 people.
#Bangladesh Eid congregation blast UPDATE: 1 attacker gunned down, 1 captured alive by security forces-B'desh Information Minister tells ANI
- ANI (@ANI_news) July 7, 2016
Bangladesh media: More police forces dispatched to Kishoreganj where Eid attackers believed to be holed up in a school.
- ANI (@ANI_news) July 7, 2016
Bangladesh has been reeling from a growing wave of attacks since the turn of the year, many of which have been claimed by ISIS or an offshoot of the Al Qaeda network.
Bangladesh has been on a heightened state of alert in the wake of the killings in Dhaka last Friday night and many services that were held on Thursday to mark the start of Eid included pleas from religious leaders for an end to the violence.
Tofazzal Hosain - the district's deputy police chief told news agency AFP that several people had taken part in the attack and some had been armed with machetes -- a hallmark of recent killings in Bangladesh.
"They threw a bomb at a police checkpost. A police constable was killed in the explosion. One attacker was killed and another was arrested," Mahbubur Rahman, a police officer in the district control room, has told news agency AFP.
Today's attack was at a huge prayer gathering in northern Bangladesh where people had come to celebrate the end of Ramzan.
A gunbattle is currently under way between Bangladeshi security forces and terrorists. This is the second attack in Bangladesh within a week.
Update: Number of people dead in the explosion rises to 4.
"One police constable is dead and at least five others were injured," Mahbub, a police officer in the district control room has told news agency AFP.
After the last week's Dhaka attack, terrorist group ISIS, in a video message, had warned of repeated attacks in Bangladesh.
"What you witnessed in Bangladesh ... was a glimpse. This will repeat, repeat and repeat until you lose and we win and the sharia is established throughout the world," said a man identified as Bangladeshi fighter Abu Issa al-Bengali, in the video monitored by SITE intelligence site.
"What you witnessed in Bangladesh ... was a glimpse. This will repeat, repeat and repeat until you lose and we win and the sharia is established throughout the world," said a man identified as Bangladeshi fighter Abu Issa al-Bengali, in the video monitored by SITE intelligence site.
The police and local media said the explosion occurred at a school outside a prayer ground where at least 200,000 people were gathered. There were also exchanges of gunfire at the scene.
Two people, including a policeman were killed and five others were wounded on Thursday after a bomb exploded near a mass Eid prayer congregation in Bangladesh, police said. The incident took place at Kishoreganj, 100 km from capital Dhaka, where seven terrorists attacked a popular cafe last Friday, killing 22 people.
