Bangladesh: Christian family attacked with homemade bombs

A Christian family were attacked with crude bombs at their home in Bangladesh on Tuesday morning.

 Mostaque Chowdhury/ Wikimedia Commons

Unidentified assailants targeted the family's house in a Christian-majority area of Baghadanga Girjapara with homemade bombs.

One man, Alam Mondol, 45, was injured outside his house and another man was wounded as he and other local villagers tried to force the attackers away.

"Mondol was injured after [wooden] splinters hit his left hand and hip," local police chief Liaqat Hossain told AFP.

"Both the injured are Christians."

Another officer, Chuadanga district chief Rashidul Hasan, said they suspect the attackers were trying to rob the family, as they "tried to break into the house and demand money."

This is the latest in a string of attacks on religious minorities in the Muslim-majority country.

A recent spate of extremist violence has challenged Bangladesh's status as a moderate Muslim country. ISIS and al-Qaeda have claimed a series of attacks on atheists and religious minorities since September.

Last week an English professor, Rezaul Karim Siddiquee, was hacked to death by Islamic extremists. Islamic State claimed responsibility for the attack.

Similarly, ISIS claimed to have killed Christian convert Hossain Ali, 68, on March 22 while he was walking in the town of Kurigram, saying it was a "lesson to others".

The government has denied that either of the groups are behind any of the recent attacks. It insists they have no known presence in the country and has blamed home-grown militants for the violence.

At least five Jamaat-ul-Mujahideen fighters have been killed in shootouts since November, as security forces have stepped up a crackdown on militants seeking to make Bangladesh a Sharia-based state.

Christians and Hindus make up just 10 per cent of the country's population of mainly Sunni Muslims. 

Newsletter Stay up to date with Christian Today
related articles
ISIS claims killing of Christian in Bangladesh as a \'lesson to others\'
ISIS claims killing of Christian in Bangladesh as a 'lesson to others'

ISIS claims killing of Christian in Bangladesh as a 'lesson to others'

Bangladesh retains Islam as state religion

Bangladesh retains Islam as state religion

Bangladeshi blogger who criticised Islamism hacked to death

Bangladeshi blogger who criticised Islamism hacked to death

Bangladesh: Islamic State claims machete murder of English professor
Bangladesh: Islamic State claims machete murder of English professor

Bangladesh: Islamic State claims machete murder of English professor

News
Pope Leo XIV listed among Time’s 2026 100 most influential people
Pope Leo XIV listed among Time’s 2026 100 most influential people

Pope Leo XIV has been included in Time magazine’s annual list of the 100 most influential people in the world, marking another milestone in the early months of his historic papacy.

The backstory to St George and his flag
The backstory to St George and his flag

23 April marks St George’s Day, which often passes unnoticed. But who was St George and why is he England's patron saint? This is the story …

Dear Saint George: A letter to England’s patron saint
Dear Saint George: A letter to England’s patron saint

Peter Crumpler shares his appreciation for England's patron saint.

Baroness Scotland urges people of all faiths to support religious freedom
Baroness Scotland urges people of all faiths to support religious freedom

Two thirds of people worldwide are believed to live in countries with no, or limited, religious freedom.