Militant group IS says it gunned down Italian in Bangladesh

Earlier yesterday, Cesare was shot dead by armed criminals in the capital’s Gulshan diplomatic zone.

The claim, which according to an intelligence group monitoring jihadist threats, was made by the radical Sunni Islamist group could not immediately be verified independently.

Tavella came to Bangladesh to help the poorest of the poor which makes this crime even more horrific, Mayaudon said in a statement.

Witnesses said they heard at least three gunshots and saw the attackers flee after Tavella fell to the ground, according to police.

Tavella, in his 50s, had been living alone in Dhaka after arriving in May to work on food security issues for a Netherlands-based church cooperative called ICCO, according to his colleague Alo Rani Dhali.

The 50-year-old man died in hospital after he was shot three times by attackers who fled on a motorcycle, Dhaka police spokesman Muntashirul Islam told AFP. But the gruesome killings of a series of atheist bloggers this year rocked the country and sparked a crackdown on local hardline Islamist groups.

Bangladesh prides itself on being a mainly moderate Muslim country.

Last week, the Australian cricket team delayed its planned departure to Bangladesh after being warned there was a potential security risk from militants. “I could not identify them as the streetlamps were off. One of the two persons behind him shot him after sometime”. If confirmed, the incident would be the first such attack by the group in the South Asian nation.