New Delhi: At least eight persons, including a suspected Islamist suicide attacker, were killed and over 100 others injured as two bomb explosions rocked the northern Bangladeshi town of Netrokona on Thursday.
A suspected suicide bomber who forced his way into a crowd on a bicycle blew himself up near the office of Udichi, a Left-leaning cultural group.
The crowd had gathered as the district police chief was inspecting the scene of a blast that occurred earlier when fire fighters tried to defuse a bomb.
Four people were killed on the spot, while four more died either on way to hospital or in nearby Mymensingh Medical College Hospital.
Among the injured were nine policemen, of whom five were in critical condition, as also an alleged second bomber who authorities believe failed to detonate his explosives.
No one has claimed responsibility for the attack, but police recovered leaflets of the banned Jamatul Mujaheedin Bangladesh (JMB) from the spot.
Meanwhile, the main opposition Awami League of former prime minister Sheikh Hasina Wajed has called for a protest general strike in Netrakona for Sunday.
Thursday's deaths bring the number of people killed by suspected suicide bombers to 25 in three weeks, including judges, lawyers and policemen.
The attack comes just days after explosions rocked south-eastern Chittagong and Gazipur district, near Dhaka, also blamed on the JMB, which seeks to establish strict Islamic rule in Muslim-majority Bangladesh.
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