Expat Murders Linked to Islamic State Put Bangladesh on Edge

Bloomberg

08 October 2015

Two expat murders in Bangladesh are stoking concerns that Islamic extremists may tarnish the country’s image at a time when its economy is a rare bright spot in Asia.

A Japanese investor was shot and killed in northern Bangladesh on Oct. 3, about a week after three people murdered an Italian aid worker in an area popular with diplomats in Dhaka, Bangladesh’s capital. Islamic State claimed responsibility for the slayings, an assertion rejected by the government.

“This threat and insecurity currently makes foreigners think twice before they visit Bangladesh,” said Daniel Seidl, a representative of the Brussels-based Foreign Trade Association in Dhaka. Despite that, he called Bangladesh a “booming manufacturing hub” where “foreigners are treated as guests.”

… “Bangladesh has a very determined counter-terrorism organization,” Rohan Gunaratna, head of International Centre for Political Violence and Terrorism Research in Singapore, said by phone. “But until this Islamic State cell is neutralized, they will continue to kill.”

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