Deadly blasts target Muslims in Bangladesh

A twelve-year-old boy was killed and others wounded when a series of blasts targeted Shia Muslims in Dhaka as they gathered for a procession in the old part of the Bangladesh capital to mark the holy day of Ashoura, police said.

Police cordoned off the area early on Saturday and were investigating the blasts, which they said were caused by improvised explosive devices. They said it was unclear who carried out the attack.

Local police chief Aziz Ahmed said a 12-year-old boy died while the injured were being treated.

Insecurity grips minority groups in Bangladesh

Witnesses said that people ran frantically after blasts, losing their flip-flops and sandals as they scattered.

“It is our apprehension that blasts were carried out only to panic the people and to create a chaotic situation,” Colonel Ziaul Ahsan, an additional director general of the elite Rapid Action Battalion, told reporters.

At least 10 people were admitted to Dhaka Medical College Hospital, and most of them were in a stable condition, accordng to Nazimunnesa, a deputy director.

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Attacks on the Shia minority have been rare in Sunni majority Bangladesh.

Nobody has claimed the responsibility for Saturday’s attack.

The explosions came a day after at least 22 people were killed during a procession to mark Ashoura in the Pakistani province of Sindh.

The blast on Friday, which struck worshippers in the city of Jacobabad, also left 30 people wounded.

Al Jazeera’s Kamal Hyder, reporting from Pakistan’s capital Islamabad, said more than 10,000 extra police officers had been deployed to guard Shia processions during Ashoura.

Credit: Al Jazeera

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