Two Dead Following Militant Attack on Eid al-Fitr Ceremony in Bangladesh

An attack on a police checkpoint near the largest gathering of Muslims in Bangladesh for Eid al-Fitr prayers resulted in the deaths of two police officers, while nine other officers were seriously injured. Reuters reported on Thursday, July 8, that the attack occurred in Kishoreganj, 140 kilometers from the capital of Bangladesh, close to the location of the Eid al-Fitr congregation, which attracts around 300,000 participants annually. The report cites Zilor Rahman, a local official in Bangladesh, stating that the attackers first launched a grenade assault on the police checkpoint and then used melee weapons, such as machetes. According to Mr. Rahman, two of the attackers were ultimately killed, but police are still searching for other assailants. He also assured that despite this attack, the Eid al-Fitr prayers in Kishoreganj were held peacefully, and worshippers left the area after the ceremony. Less than a week prior, Bangladesh witnessed a bloody attack on a café in Dhaka, the capital, which resulted in the deaths of 20 people, including several foreign nationals. Although this attack was initially attributed to the Islamic State (ISIS), which claimed responsibility, the Ministry of Home Affairs in Bangladesh stated that the attackers were members of a local extremist group, not ISIS. Nevertheless, ISIS had warned that such attacks would continue until an Islamic government is established worldwide, and the café attack in Dhaka was just a glimpse of the situation.