Bangladesh bomb blasts kill eight

A series of bombs in two Bangladesh cities killed at least eight people and injured 66 today in what appeared to be the latest attack by militant Muslims who want to impose harsh Islamic law, officials said.

No one claimed responsibility, but police investigators pointed to outlawed Islamic militant group Jumatul Mujahideen Bangladesh, blamed for similar attacks this year.

The attacks prompted widespread condemnation and protests, including a call by lawyers for a day-long general strike on Thursday.

Prime Minister Khaleda Zia called the bombers “enemies of the nation, Islam and democracy” and vowed to punish them, state-run Bangladesh Television reported.

“Those who kill people in the name of religion are enemies of Islam. They are terrorists and murderers. We’ll crush them,” Zia told a public rally in southern Patuakhali town.

She also urged people to remain vigilant and unite against ”the extremists”.

Other political parties, including the main opposition Awami League and an Islamic party allied to Zia’s four-party alliance, also condemned the bombings in separate statements.

The explosions in the port city of Chittagong and in Gazipur town, just outside the capital, Dhaka, happened just before 9am local time (3am Irish time) and appeared to target courthouses, police said.

Three bombs went off just outside the Chittagong courthouse, killing an alleged suicide bomber and two police officers, said police official Mosharraf Hossain.

Sixteen people – including the second suspected suicide bomber – were injured in the Chittagong blasts, said Habibur Rahman, a doctor at state-run Chittagong Medical College Hospital, 135 miles south-east of Dhaka.

Hossain said the first blast occurred when police scuffled with a suspected bomber at the courthouse gate. The second then detonated two more bombs, he said.

Hossain revised his earlier statement that the Chittagong blasts killed two alleged bombers.

Three more people, one an alleged bomber, were killed instantly in Gazipur town when a powerful bomb went off inside the Bar Library near a courthouse, said area police chief Atiqul Islam.

Later, an unidentified woman and a lawyer who were being treated at a Dhaka hospital succumbed to their injuries, the United News of Bangladesh agency reported.

The explosion at Gazipur, 20 miles north of Dhaka, injured at least 50 people, Islam said.

“I suddenly heard a big bang, and seconds later I found myself on the floor with pool of blood and body parts around me,” Anwar Fakir, a lawyer with severe burn injuries from the Gazipur blast, said from his hospital bed. “It was just terrible. I can’t explain.”

Police said the suspected bomber entered the library wearing a black robe such as those Bangladesh lawyers traditionally wear in court.

Leaflets from Jumatul Mujahideen Bangladesh were found at the Chittagong site, a police official said.

The banned group has been blamed for a recent spate of bombings in Bangladesh. It seeks to establish strict Islamic rule in Muslim-majority Bangladesh, which is governed by secular laws.

A handwritten note found on one of the suspected bombers warned police, judges and lawyers “to stop upholding man-made laws which go against Islam”, Chittagong police official Mohammad Majedul Huq said.

The blasts triggered panic and protests at courthouses across Bangladesh.

In Dhaka, hundreds of lawyers boycotted courts and took to the streets, urging authorities to act against those responsible.

“Catch the bombers and put them on trial,” shouted dozens of lawyers at the Dhaka Judge Court.

The Supreme Court Bar Association announced a dawn-to-dusk general strike across Bangladesh for Thursday to protest the latest blasts and demand improved security.

Judges in some cities and towns refused to attend court, ATN Bangla reported.

Several judges have reported receiving death threats in letters or by telephone recently, local media reports said.

Authorities have tightened security at courts and provided several judges with armed bodyguards following a spate of bombings since August.

A suspected suicide bombing – also allegedly linked to Jumatul Mujahideen Bangladesh – killed two judges in the southern town of Jhalakathi earlier this month.

Four more people were killed and dozens injured in August and October bomb attacks targeting government buildings and courts.