IS claims attack on Shiite mosque in Bangladesh: SITE

“The attackers entered the mosque and fired indiscriminately”, local police chief M. Asaduzzaman told AFP, referring to the mosque official who does the call to prayer. “We have already launched a countrywide operation to hunt out the assailants”.

Assistant imam Moazzem Hossain, 55, died at the scene, while three other people were taken to hospital with bullet wounds.

He said the men were picked up from the area of the attack.

Earlier on Thursday, police said they had killed a top militant suspected to have masterminded the October 24 attack on the Shi’ite shrine in Dhaka.

Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina had harsh words for whoever was responsible for the attack.

“As a result of the terrorism threat, Australian officials in Bangladesh have been advised to avoid travel at night, and limit their movements in public places, including bars, hotels and events and locations frequented by foreigners”, it said. “They are terrorists using Islam and they must be stopped”.

A number of attacks claimed by Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) have occurred in Bangladesh, some targeting foreigners, since September.

Four secular bloggers and a publisher were murdered and three more injured in machete attacks by alleged Islamic extremists this year. Islam described Bani as the “military commander” of the banned group, and said he and his accomplices had opened fire on security forces as they were preparing to conduct a raid.

Bangladesh’s authorities has rejected Islamic State claims of involvement within the assaults and says native militants are concerned.

Two people have been detained in connection with the incident.

Once considered a moderate Muslim-majority nation, Bangladesh has seen a rise in religious violence in recent times.

This story was first published on CNN.com, “ISIS says it’s behind deadly Shiite mosque attack in Bangladesh”.

The attack on the mosque in Bangladesh has triggered a wave of concerns among Shi’ites in neighboring India. “The bomb attack on the Muharram procession in Muslim-majority Bangladesh came as a surprise to us”. Dabiq, a magazine of the IS group, has claimed Rahman was the founder of the jihadi movement in Bangladesh.