It was a suicide attacker who blew himself up inside an Ahmadiyya mosque in Rajshahi on Friday, initial police findings and the autopsy report have confirmed.

While the investigators point finger at the outlawed Jama’atul Mujahideen Bangladesh (JMB) for the attack, US-based SITE Intelligence Group has reported that the Islamic State militants have claimed responsibility for it.

The IS claim could not be independently verified.

The attacker, aged around 20, detonated the bomb around 1:35pm during Juma prayers inside the mosque at Sayedpur Chalkpara village under Bagmara upazila.

Around 70 members of the Ahmadiyya community — a Muslim sect that has been frequently targeted by the radical Islamists in Bangladesh — were offering prayers at the time.

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