Bike bomber kills seven
2005-12-09 00:17
Netrokona - A suicide bomber on a bicycle blew himself up in a crowded Bangladesh street on Thursday, killing seven and wounding at least 45 people.
Bangladesh authorities have blamed the attack on Jumatul Mujahideen Bangladesh, a banned Islamic group believed to be behind a wave of blasts killing 21 people in the past two weeks.
Police had safely detonated another bomb found abandoned in a building, moments before the blast in Netrokona, 130km north of Dhaka.
Among the injured was another bomber, who police said had failed to detonate his explosives.
A police officer at the scene, Ali Hossain Faquir, said a handwritten leaflet warning police to follow Islamic law and stop protecting "man made" laws had been found near the site.
Bangladesh Prime Minister Khaleda Zia has expressed shock at the bombing.
A Bangladesh home ministry spokesperson, Khondakar Monirul Alam, said the attackers had "adopted a new tactic, and targeted innocent people".
The previous attacks had targeted government buildings.
A police official said the suspected second bomber was under police guard in a hospital.
A police bomb expert said the bomb officers had managed to diffuse before the attack was "a small, not powerful bomb", probably used as a decoy to attract people.
The second bomb, however, was packed with high explosives and iron balls that tore through the crowd.
Of the 45 injured, nine are policemen.
About 400 people had gathered in the narrow street, hoping to catch a glimpse of the bomb police had just defused.
- AP