More than 300,000 people took part in mass prayers in Sholakia, 62 miles (100 kilometers) northeast of the capital Dhaka, when the attack was launched at the checkpoint, Kishoregunj District Police Assistant Superintendent Shoaib Abu Shayal said.
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Police said two constables were killed and at least 13 others injured.
The country’s information minister said the target of the attack was a police convoy patrolling the religious gathering. “They are critical”, he said.
The Thursday’s attack came within a week after terrorists killed 20 hostages, mostly foreign nationals, at a restaurant in Dhaka’s Holey Artisan Bakery restaurant.
Even as the Bangladesh government continue to deny the presence of ISIS jihadist within its national boundaries, yet another terror attack on an Eid prayer service disrupted the peace in the country today leading to the death of two policemen and one woman.
In the Islamic State video the militant suspects threatened to repeat what happened last Friday at Dhaka and sought public favor in support of their so- called jihad in Bangladesh. “They are the enemy of Islam who committed these acts”.
The cleric who led the Kishoreganj prayer, Maolana Farid Uddin Masuod, has been an outspoken critic of a recent wave of attacks by Islamist extremists and he again strongly condemned Thursday’s killings.
“In the advisory, the State Department urged “US citizens to carefully consider the risks of travel to Bangladesh” in light of the latest attacks”. “But we are looking into the option of a link between IS, Pakistan, Jamaat-e-Islaami of Bangladesh”, Inu said.
At least 22 people, mostly foreigners, were killed in the attack on July 1.
Police brought in scanners and sniffer dogs to check for bombs as crowds were forced to wait for up to an hour before being cleared to enter the grounds where the service was held.
Police cordoned off the area and searched the devotees as well as nearby houses for suspects in hiding, said local resident Shafiqul Islam, who was among those praying. “This will repeat and repeat until you lose and we win and the sharia is established throughout the world”. It says the attacks are the work of homegrown Islamist militants. “They are against the normal religious practices of the country”, he said. This is the second terrorist attack in a week occurring in Bangladesh.
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Bangladesh has suffered a series of bloody killings of secular bloggers, foreigners, members of the gay community, Hindu priests and other minorities since 2013, violence that has intensified during the a year ago.
