Dhaka: A suicide bomber blew himself up in a mosque of minority Ahmadi community during Friday prayers in northwestern Bangladesh, wounding 11 people.
The blast took place when the mosque at Bagmara town, some 250 kilometres from Dhaka, was packed with worshipers during Friday prayers amid the nationwide celebration of Eid- e-Milad-un Nabi, the birth anniversary of Prophet Mohammad.
Police was yet to confirm the identity of the bomber but suspected that the attack was plotted by an Islamist group.
No group has so far claimed responsibility for the attack, but in recent months, homegrown outlawed militant group Jamayetul Mujahideen Bangladesh (JMB) and Islamic State group claimed responsibility for bomb attacks on a shrine and a mosque of minority Shia Muslims in northern Bangladesh.
Members of other minority groups, including Sufis – who adhere to a mystical form of Islam – have also been attacked and killed in recent months, and two Christian priests have survived attacks claimed by Islamist militants.
A spokesman of the Ahmdia community, which is considered by rightwing Islamic schools as non-Muslims, said two unidentified people came to the mosque where nearly 100 people including women had gathered for the Friday prayers.
Bangladesh has seen several violent incidents in recent months, including attacks on foreigners and secular bloggers claimed by the IS, although the government says the attacks have been carried out by local Islamist radical groups.
Last week, six people were injured when two Molotov cocktails exploded at a mosque inside a major naval base in Bangladesh’s port city of Chittagong after Friday prayers.
