Daily Times

DHAKA: A suspected suicide bomber died after blowing himself up near Bangladesh’s principal airport in capital Dhaka on Friday night, police said, in the second attack within the span of a week claimed by Islamic State (IS) group jihadists.

According to a jihadist threat monitoring portal, SITE Intelligence Group, IS claimed its responsibility of bomb blast near a police box in front of Hazrat Shahjalal International Airport in Dhaka in an online statement.

The authenticity of the statement has not been confirmed by Bangladesh Police on Friday night.

“A youth (aged about 25) blew himself up with a bomb attached to his body,”the Dhaka Metropolitan Police official said but did not like to be named.

The bomber died in what is believed to be a suicide attack.

Dhaka Metropolitan Police Commissioner Asaduzzaman Mia, however, told reporters at the scene that the man was simply a carrier of the bomb and his intention was not to attack any of the law enforcers.

“The man could have attacked 8-10 law enforcers there if he wanted. But he didn’t want so. So we can’t say that it was an attack. “

“We think the bomb exploded accidentally as the carrier was scared to see law enforcers on the street.”