100 Closely Timed Small Bombs Explode in Bangladesh
This article is from the archive of The New York Sun before the launch of its new website in 2022. The Sun has neither altered nor updated such articles but will seek to correct any errors, mis-categorizations or other problems introduced during transfer.
DHAKA, Bangladesh – More than 100 homemade bombs planted by suspected Islamic militants exploded nearly simultaneously across Bangladesh yesterday, killing two people, including a young boy, and wounding at least 125.
About 50 people were arrested, a state-run news agency reported. There was no claim of responsibility, but leaflets from a banned group seeking the imposition of Islamic law were found at many scenes.
Police said the bombs were designed to cause limited damage. The blasts killed a bicycle rickshaw driver in the northern town of Chapainawabganj and a 10-year-old boy in the central town of Savar.
At least 125 people were injured in more than 100 blasts, the state run Bangladesh Sangbad Sangstha reported.
Prime Minister Zia, who left for China before the blasts, called the attacks a “cowardly, conspiratorial, and well-planned terrorist act.”
The main opposition leader, former Prime Minister Hasina, blamed the government for the blasts, saying its failure to catch and punish those involved in similar attacks encouraged perpetrators of such crimes.
Leaflets from the Jumatul Mujahedin were found at many blast scenes, police said. The group wants to establish an Islamic state in Bangladesh, an overwhelmingly Muslim nation governed by secular laws.
In Washington, American officials called the bombings a “heinous crime” and conveyed its condolences to the victims and their families, a State Department spokesman, Sean McCormack, said.
Three men were arrested in the southern district of Cox’s Bazar for carrying or hurling bombs, police officer Rezaul Karim said. In the city of Chittagong, police arrested two men carrying crude homemade bombs and firecrackers, police officer Osman Gani said.
The leaflets found near blast sites called for the imposition of Islamic law.
“There should not be any other laws except Allah’s in a Muslim country. But it’s a pity that in Bangladesh, where about 90% are Muslims, Allah’s rules are not implemented,” said the leaflets.
Earlier this year, the government outlawed Jumatul Mujahedin and another Islamic group, Jagrata Muslim Janata, for their alleged involvement in a spate killings, robberies, and bomb attacks in recent years.
