A bomber died while attempting to carry out an attack at a police checkpost near Dhaka’s Hazrat Shahjalal International Airport on Friday. Assistant Commissioner of Police (Airport) Ruhul Amin Shagor confirmed to The Dhaka Tribune that there were no other casualties in the incident.

The attempted attack in Bangladesh took place around 8 pm (local time). The bomber is believed to have been trying to cause an explosion at the airport. There were four security personnel at the police checkpost when the explosive went off early. “I turned around and found a man’s mangled body lying bloody in front of the police box,” tea seller Salauddin, who was an eyewitness, told The Dhaka Tribune.

Advertisement

Police Commissioner Asaduzzaman Mia, however, said it could not have been a suicide attack but an error of judgement by the attacker. He identified the assailant as a man in his early 30s, dressed in a pair of jeans and a t-shirt. The police have yet to confirm whether the explosive was in his pocket or tied around his waist. A bomb disposal squad is still inspecting the luggage the attacker had with him.

Civil Aviation and Tourism Minister Rashed Khan Menon assured citizens that the incident will not hamper operations at the airport. Authorities have also said that there was no need for additional security. Public Relations Officer for the Civil Aviation Authority Rezaul Karim said they had heightened security on the premises after the bomb attack on the Rapid Action Battalion camp at Ashkona, Bangladesh, last week.

Bangladesh had been targetted by a terror strike on July 1 last year when six militants had stormed into a popular café in a diplomatic area in Dhaka and killed 20 people. The Islamic State group had claimed responsibility for this carnage, but the government had asserted that local banned outfit Jamaat-ul-Mujahdeen were behind it.