The Mymensingh cinema bombings were a coordinated bombing of four

movie theater A movie theater (American English), cinema (British English), or cinema hall ( Indian English), also known as a movie house, picture house, the movies, the pictures, picture theater, the silver screen, the big screen, or simply theater is a ...

s that caused in the deaths of 27 people and injured over 200 others in Mymensingh, Bangladesh on 6 December 2002. The bombing was carried out by

Jama’atul Mujahedeen Bangladesh Jamaat-ul-Mujahideen ("Assembly of Mujahideen--Bangladesh", abbreviated: JMB; bn, জামাত-উল-মুজাহিদীন বাংলাদেশ) is a terrorist organisation operating in Bangladesh. It is listed as a terror group ...

Background

The attack happened two months after a circus and cinema were bombed in

Satkhira Satkhira( bn, সাতক্ষীরা) is a city and district headquarter of Satkhira District in Khulna Division, south-west Bangladesh Bangladesh (}, ), officially the People's Republic of Bangladesh, is a country in South Asia. I ...

, Bangladesh. The attacks took place while the anti-crime Operation Clean Heart was ongoing. Soldiers from the operation were involved in the rescue and first-aid efforts. After the explosions, a bomb was found in Gaibandha, Bangladesh.

Attack

The attacks took place following the

Eid Eid as a name may refer to: Islamic holidays An Eid is a Muslim religious festival: * ''Eid Milad un Nabi'', alternate name for Mawlid (, "Birth of the Prophet"), the date of observance of the birthday of the Islamic prophet Muhammad * Eid al ...

holidays, which meant the movie theaters were filled. On 6 December 2002 there were four simultaneous explosions in four different movie theaters.

Trial

In 2007, Bangladesh Police charged three people with the crime. It also dropped the names of 43 people from the investigation which were added during the Bangladesh Nationalist Party Government including members of then opposition party Bangladesh Awami League and journalist. As of 2017, there has been no verdict in the case and the victims have not received any compensation.

Reactions

The Prime Minister of Bangladesh, Khaleda Zia, blamed the opposition party

Awami League In Urdu language, Awami is the adjectival form for '' Awam'', the Urdu language word for common people. The adjective appears in the following proper names: *Awami Colony, a neighbourhood of Landhi Town in Karachi, Sindh, Pakistan *Awami Front, wa ...

and described it as a planned attack to destabilize the government.

References

{{Reflist, 30em 2002 in film 2002 murders in Bangladesh 21st-century mass murder in Bangladesh Attacks on buildings and structures in Asia Attacks on cinemas December 2002 crimes December 2002 events in Bangladesh Explosions in 2002 Islamic terrorism in Bangladesh Islamic terrorist incidents in 2002 Improvised explosive device bombings in Bangladesh Mass murder in 2002 Massacres in Bangladesh Cinema bombings Terrorist incidents in Bangladesh in 2002 Terrorism in Bangladesh Building bombings in Bangladesh