May 02, 2024 22:40 (IST)
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Indian Prez condemns second terror attack in Bangladesh
New Delhi, July 7 (IBNS): Indian President Pranab Mukherjee has strongly condemned the terrorist attack in Kishoreganj in Bangladesh on Thursday morning near a mass Eid prayer congregation, the second terror strike in the country in less than a week's time.
In a statement, the President has said: "I am shocked and distressed to hear about the terrorist attack in Kishoreganj, Bangladesh today on the day of Eid. I condemn the perpetrators of this attack in the strongest of terms. This is the second terrorist attack in a week occurring in Bangladesh."
"The people and Government are engaged in a brave struggle against the evil forces of extremism and violence. The Government of India will strongly stand by our brothers and sisters of Bangladesh in this fight. We will extend every support possible to enable the Bangladesh Government defeat these forces whose goal is to spread hatred, chaos and instability," Mukherjee said.
He has also written to the President of the People's Republic of Bangladesh, Abdul Hamid, conveying condolences to the Government and people of Bangladesh at the second terrorist attack in quick succession in their country.
In his message, the President said, “I convey my heartfelt condolences to you and the people of Bangladesh at the second terrorist attack in quick succession in Bangladesh. Such a senseless attack on innocent people during the auspicious Eid festival is particularly shocking. My thoughts and prayers are with the families of the victims."
Pledging to fight against terrorism, he wrote: "India stands with Bangladesh in its fight against terrorism, radicalism and fundamentalism."
The attack claimed the lives of two policeman and a woman while injuring 13 people. One attacker had also been shot dead.
The audacious attack occurred at congregation site at Kishoreganj,100 km north of capital Dhaka, where at least 200,000 people gathered on the holy festival day for Muslims.
The strike came after Friday's grisly attack on a popular cafe that left 22 people, mostly foreigners, dead.
A group of attackers reportedly threw crude bombs at a police team outside a ground where a mass prayer for Eid was being held.
Media reports quoted Bangladesh Information Minister Hasanul Haq Inu as saying that the target of the attack was a police convoy patrolling the religious gathering.
"Up to nine police constables have been injured in the attack," Inu told CNN-News 18.
Police constable Jahurul Haque, 30, died in the blasts that occurred around 9 a.m., at Azimuddin School gate, a kilometre away from the prayer ground, bdnews24 reported.
However, the private Somoy TV that broadcast footage of a gunfight between police and a group of attackers, reported that the slain policeman had been hacked to death.
Tofazzal Hosain, who is the district's deputy police chief, has been quoted by the media as saying that several people had taken part in the attack and some had been armed with machetes -- a hallmark of recent Islamist killings in Bangladesh.
"They first threw a small bomb targeting police and then attacked them with machetes. Police retaliated by returning gunfire," he said.
The Islamic State, which claimed responsibility for Friday's terror attack on the Hole Artisan Cafe in Dhaka, on Wednesday issued a new video warning the Bangladesh government of more attacks in the country and across the world until Shariah law is established globally. It said last week’s gruesome attack on the cafe was just “a glimpse".
The video message believed to be issued from Raqqa, the stronghold of the terror group in Syria in Bangla language was first found in an IS-affiliate website and then released on YouTube.
However, there was no immediate claim of responsibility for Thursday's attack which came at a time when the country was trying to recover from the shock of the July 1 terror attack, the first of its kind in Bangladesh.
A group of terrorists, all later identified as Bangladeshi youths, had butchered 22 hostages, including 20 foreigners, inside the cafe. Carrying out an operation, Bangladesh commandos shot dead six people, five of them identified as terrorists, and rescued 13 hostages.
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