Dhaka Bombing Reinvigorates Terror Across Bangladesh

On Thursday, July 7th, four gunmen stormed a police checkpoint and set off an explosive device near Bangladesh’s largest Eid al-Fitr holiday gathering.

According to reports, around a half hour before morning prayers began in Bangladesh’s capital city of Dhaka, a group of men approached a police checkpoint close to the Sholakia Eidgah prayer ground. At the security checkpoint roughly sixty miles from the city center, the culprits began firing their weapons and proceeded to set off an explosive. After continued fighting, police officers managed to entrap the assailants in a nearby home from which they were later apprehended.

A police spokesman said the attackers surprised police officers, assaulting them with firearms and bladed weapons. More than 300,000 people were thought to have been gathered at the Eidgah site prior to the assault which killed two security officers and one civilian.

Thursday’s attack occurred despite the country’s efforts to maintain security following threats from Islamic State. One day prior to the prayer ground bombing, the terrorist group warned the country of ensuing attacks after last week’s bloody siege at a Dhaka pastry shop in which 20 hostages were taken and later killed. The gunmen who carried out the weekend operation declared loyalty to Islamic State and targeted non-devout Muslims and foreigners.

So far, no group has claimed responsibility for the recent Bangladesh killings, but the Hasina government illustrated the source of the violence as “domestic militants” who are fighting to destabilize the secular government of Bangladesh and establish Islamic Rule. It seems reasonable to suspect that those who conducted the most recent bombing were similarly motivated to those who killed hostages earlier in the week due to the nature of the attack as well as the threats that preceded it. If Islamic State or Al Qaeda in the Indian Subcontinent, or their local affiliates carried out the the prayer bombing, there may not be an explicit claim of responsibility. Jihadists groups often do not claim attacks on predominately Muslim areas. Ultimatley, the two recent terrorist attacks in Bangladesh continue the illustrate that current threat posed to the country from Jihadist movements, feeding on the ongoing struggle between secular and Islamist political forces.