Eight people were killed and 23 badly hurt on Tuesday in two suicide bombings in Bangladesh that police blamed on Islamic extremists, the latest in a string of attacks in the Muslim-majority nation.
Police accused the hard-line group Jamayetul Mujahideen, which wants to introduce strict Islamic law in Bangladesh, of staging the attacks targeting the nation’s legal system.
”We’re stepping up security around the country,” said national police chief Abdul Kaiyum after the attacks in the south-eastern port city of Chittagong and in Gazipur, near the capital, Dhaka.
Eight people, including two suicide bombers, were killed and 23 people — including five police officers and a would-be suicide bomber — were in serious condition in hospital as a result of the attacks, police said.
Scores more at the blast sites suffered minor injuries.
The first attack was in Chittagong’s main court, where three people died — including a suicide bomber and two police officers, police said.
The second attack was on the bar association in Gazipur. One suicide bomber wearing lawyer’s robes and four others died in that attack, police said.
”We believe the [dead] bomber was an activist of Jamayetul Mujahideen,” Chittagong police Sub-Inspector Rahul Amin said.
Gazipur police also blamed the bar association attack on the group.
Jamayetul Mujahideen has been linked to a wave of attacks that has killed seven people since August, including two judges earlier this month. — Sapa-AFP