Terrorist behind Bangladesh Eid attack identified

A missing university student has been identified as the suspected terrorist who was killed during an encounter with police after an attack on one of Bangladesh’s biggest Eid gatherings in Sholakia, killing four persons.

Islamist militants carrying bombs and machetes on Thursday launched the deadly attack near the Eid prayer gathering in Sholakia in northern Kishoreganj district where at least 200,000 people had gathered to perform prayers.

Several acquaintances said that the young attacker was Abir Rahman, a North South University student who had been missing for the past eight months, Dhaka Tribune reported.

“These acquaintances identified Abir from photos and videos released in the media after the attack that killed two policemen and injured six others,” it said.

Abir, a resident of Boshundhora Residential area, passed his A’ Levels from Bangladesh International Tutorial in 2010 and was pursuing Bachelor of Business Administration at NorthSouthUniversity, the paper said.

The BBA final-year student of the private university Abir hailed from Comilla’s Debidwar.

During the attack, seven or eight young men, all in their 20s, threw bombs at the police checkpoint that was searching people coming into the prayer congregation, and then immediately hacked at the policemen with sharp weapons.

A gunbattle ensued in which Abir was killed and four other attackers were caught. Police did not reveal the identities of the arrested attackers.

Police said two constables were killed and at least 13 others injured. A Hindu woman was also killed as she was hit by a stray bullet that penetrated her hut.

The incident comes close on the heels of last week’s deadly attacks on a cafe in which 22 people, including a 19-year-old Indian girl, were brutally slaughtered by Islamic State militants.

Meanwhile, the India high commission in Dhaka has advised Indian nationals to register themselves with it by filling out the registration form available on its website.

Image: Mourners grieve after four people died when terrorists carrying bombs and machetes on Thursday launched the deadly attack near the Eid prayer gathering in Sholakia. Photograph: Reuters