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Agence France-Presse in Dhaka

A Japanese citizen was shot dead by gunmen in a northern Bangladesh town yesterday, police said, days after an Italian aid worker was murdered in an attack claimed by the Islamic State group.
Police said the victim, whom they named as Hoshi Kunio, aged 66, was riding in a rickshaw when he was shot dead in Kaunia town in Rangpur district.
“He was travelling to the town from Rangpur city, where he had been living for a while, on a cycle rickshaw when his vehicle was stopped by three men riding on a motorcycle,” said deputy Rangpur police chief Saifur Rahman.
The Bangladesh government sought to allay concerns over the safety of foreign nationals in the country after the second killing in a week, saying it was taking both murders “very seriously”.

 “Whoever is involved with the killings will be identified and brought to book,” Home Minister Asaduzzaman Khan Kamal told reporters.
A string of slayings claimed by radical Islamic groups has Bangladesh scrambling to contain what appears to be a rising tide of extremism, and it couldn’t have come at a worse time – the country’s fragile economic growth is faltering this year amid renewed political unrest. 
Kunio was a frequent visitor to Bangladesh and worked on a farming project in Rangpur, about 300km north of the capital Dhaka, police said.
 “Two of the assailants shot him twice in the chest with pistols while the other waited with the motorbike ready to flee,” local police chief Rezaul Karim said, adding four people had been interrogated over the murder but none had been arrested.
 Kunio’s landlord Jakaria Bala told Bengali daily Prothom Alo that the victim had leased a piece of land in a village near Kaunia town to grow grass for cattle.

 A Japanese embassy spokesman in Dhaka said they were seeking more information regarding the deceased.
 “According to the information we got from the law enforcement agencies, it appears to indicate that he was a Japanese who is in his 60s,” said spokesman Takeshi Matsunaga.
 The attack came less than a week after an Italian aid worker was shot dead near the capital’s diplomatic zone.
 The government has sought to calm escalating security fears in the country after the attack was claimed by Islamic State, describing it as an ”isolated incident”.
Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina has been cracking down on radicals. Police have arrested dozens of suspected members of various hardline militant groups in 8recent years, including six that have been banned.
The government dismissed the IS claim, saying there was no evidence. “There is no existence of Islamic State here,” the home minister said on Tuesday.
 That may actually be true. Still, the attacks present a serious challenge for Hasina, who rose to power in 2008 largely on promises she would crack down on the radicalism that has been evident since 2001, when the militant group Harkatul Jihad carried out a deadly bombing during New Year celebrations.
 International schools closed temporarily and Western embassies restricted their diplomats’ movements, while Australia’s cricket team cancelled a planned tour of the country over security concerns. 
Additional reporting by Associated Press


Elderly Japanese man slain in drive-by shooting in Bangladesh, 2nd killing of a foreign national in a week

The 66-year-old was riding in a rickshaw when he was shot dead in Kaunia town, police said. Photo: SCMP Pictures

Evidence markers placed around the body of Japanese national Kunio Hoshi shot and killed in Rangpur district. Photo: APTN

Bangladesh is said to be facing a rising tide of extremism. Photo: SCMP Pictures

Japanese national shot dead in Bangladesh, days after ‘Islamic State’ murder of Italian

Bangladeshi police officials stand guard at the site where a Japanese citizen was shot to death by attackers in Rangpur. Photo: AFP

The victim, who was named as Hoshi Kunio, aged 66, was riding in a rickshaw when he was shot dead in Kaunia town, in northern Bangladesh. Photo: AFP

The body of Italian citizen Cesare Tavella, who was shot to death, lies in the morgue in the Bangladesh capital. 

Islamic State shoot dead Italian in Bangladesh capital, the group’s first attack in country

Journalists take photographs of the body of Italian citizen Cesare Tavella, who was gunned down in attack claimed by Islanic State in Dhaka. Photo: AP

A Pakistani man displays a pamphlet, allegedly distributed by the Islamic State in the northwestern Pakistani city of Peshawar. Photo: AFP

Embassies on terror alert and international schools shut after ‘Islamic State attack’ in Bangladesh

Members of Bangladeshi police stand by the site where Italian citizen Cesare Tavella was gunned down, in an attack claimed by Islamic State. Photo: AP

The body of Tavella Cesare, a 50-year-old Italian aid worker, lies at the morgue after the post-mortem in Dhaka. Photo: EPA

Islamic State pamphlets have been distributed in the northwestern Pakistani city of Peshawar. Photo: AFP

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Bangladesh authorities worry about latest killing, the second in a week after murder of an Italian aid worker claimed by Islamic State
