Source: The Guardian
Agence France-Presse in Dhaka
A Christian was knifed to death after Sunday prayers near a church in northwestBangladesh in an attack claimed by Islamic State.
Police said unidentified attackers murdered the 65-year-old in the village of Bonpara, home to one of the oldest Christian communities in Muslim-majority Bangladesh. “Sunil Gomes was hacked to death at his grocery store just near a church at Bonpara village,” said Shafiqul Islam, deputy police chief of Natore district.
Isis claimed responsibility for the murder through its Amaq news agency, according to the Site monitoring group, saying it was “part of a series of operations” in Bangladesh.
The killing came hours after the wife of a senior anti-terrorism officer was murdered in the southeastern city of Chittagong by suspected members of a banned local extremist group.
Bangladesh is reeling from a wave of murders of secular and liberal activists, and religious minorities, that have left more than 40 people dead in three years. Authorities have blamed homegrown Islamists for the attacks, which have spiked in recent weeks, rejecting claims of responsibility from Isis and a South Asia branch of al-Qaida.
Bangladesh’s secular government has accused political rivals including the largest Islamist party, Jamaat-e-Islami, of trying to destabilise the country. Experts say a government crackdown on opponents, including a ban on Jamaat following a protracted political crisis, has pushed many towards extremism.
An investigating officer, Inspector Abdur Razzak, said the motive for the latest killing was unclear, but it was similar to those of Hindus and members of other religious minorities in recent months.
Categories: Asia, Bangladesh, Christianity, ISIS, Minorities, The Muslim Times
It is sad and frustrating to hear reports such as these. The world needs to come together and figure out a better approach to curbing such extremism. My condolences to the Christian community of Bangladesh for their loss.
I would like to extend my deepest sympathies to the family of Sunil Gomes and the Bangladesh Christian community. The terrorism is growing rapidly everywhere and it is time that the peace loving people in the government should step forward to establish justice and peace among all communities.