Japan Citizen Shot Dead in Bangladesh, Second Foreigner Killed This Week

Dhaka: A Japanese citizen was shot dead in Bangladesh today, police said, the second killing of a foreign national in the South Asian nation within a week.

Concerns that more foreigners might be targeted prompted Western embassies to curtail diplomats' movements in Bangladesh this week after an Italian was shot dead in the first attack in the country claimed by Islamic State.

Attacks on foreigners are rare in Bangladesh, despite a rising tide of Islamist violence over the past year that has seen four online critics of religious militancy hacked to death, among them a US citizen of Bangladesh origin.

Hoshi Kunio, 65, was attacked by unidentified assailants around 10 a.m. on a visit to Kownia, in the district of Rangpur, 335 km (210 miles) north of the capital, Dhaka, and died on his way to hospital, police said.

"He was shot on his chest and also in his hand and leg," Rezaul Karim, the officer in charge of the local police station, told reporters.

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The officer did not comment on a possible motive for the killing, saying "We are investigating."

An official of the Japanese embassy in Dhaka told Reuters she was trying to ascertain the details of the incident involving Kunio, who was born in Bangladesh.

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Cesare Tavella, an Italian citizen working in Bangladesh on a food security project, was shot dead on Sept. 28 by three gunmen in Dhaka.