June (Web-only) 2001

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"The Christian community is afraid of another attack anywhere in Bangladesh as much as all the citizens of Bangladesh are feeling insecurity and uncertainty right now," Dennis D. Datta, general secretary of the National Christian Fellowship of Bangladesh (NCFB) told Christianity Today. "In the capital city and country side, [Christians] have protested the heinous acts through organizing processions, rallies, human chains, public meetings and prayers throughout Bangladesh."

The bombing of the Jalilpar Catholic Missionary Church in the village of Baniarchar—along with the 22 deaths at a Narayanganj political rally on June 16—has pushed the death toll from bombings in Bangladesh to at least 80 in the last two years, according to VOA News.

On June 11, The Tribune of Chandigarh reported that the Dhaka Metropolitan Police (DMP) could connect five of the bomb blasts and 44 deaths to the Harkat-ul-Jihad-al-Islami, an underground Islamic organization.

Authorities, according to the article, had arrested a teacher for planning the Baniarchar bomb attack. He is allegedly a member of the Harkat-ul-Jihad-al-Islami. Two local Christian youth are also suspected to have aided in the church blast.

The Tribune reported that four other teachers of the same madrasa (school) in Dhaka were arrested for involvement in Harkat-ul-Jihad-al-Islami bombings. Two have reportedly confessed.

The DMP is still searching for the secretary-general of the radical organization who allegedly planned all the attacks as a show of force to the ...