2004 Shah Jalal bombing was a terrorist grenade attack on the British High Commissioner to Bangladesh,

Anwar Choudhury Anwar Bakht Choudhury ( bn, আনোয়ার বখত চৌধুরী; born 15 June 1959) is a British diplomat of Bangladeshi origin. He was Governor of the Cayman Islands until he was recalled in June 2018 after less than three month ...

. The High Commissioner was injured in the attack and two bystanders were killed. The attack was carried out by

Harkat-ul-Jihad al-Islami Harkat-ul-Jihad-al-Islami ( ar, حركة الجهاد الإسلامي, ''Ḥarkat al-Jihād al-Islāmiyah'', meaning "Islamic Jihad Movement", HuJI) is a Pakistani Islamic fundamentalist Jihadist organisation affiliated with Al-Qaeda and Talib ...

Background

The Shah Jalal Shrine is a 700 year old Sufi site located in

Sylhet Sylhet ( bn, সিলেট) is a metropolitan city in northeastern Bangladesh. It is the administrative seat of the Sylhet Division. Located on the north bank of the Surma River at the eastern tip of Bengal, Sylhet has a subtropical climate an ...

, Bangladesh. Anwar Choudhury, the British high Commissioner went to visit Sylhet which was his ancestral home. He is a Bangladeshi born British Citizen. He visited the shrine on 21 May 2004. He offer prayers at the Shrine and was greeting the people who had come to see him. The shrine was bombed in January of the 2004 which resulted in the death of 5 people.

Attack

The bomb was thrown at the envoy when he was talking with the people present. The bomb hit him on his stomach but did not explode on impact but bounced off and landed near the feet of the Deputy Commissioner where it exploded. Three people including a police personnel were killed in the attack. Anwar Chowdhury was injured in the blast.

Trial

Three men including

Mufti Abdul Hannan Mufti Abdul Hannan (died 12 April 2017) was a Bangladeshi terrorist and the chief of Harkat-ul-Jihad-al-Islami Bangladesh, Harkat-ul-Jihad al-Islami Bangladesh. He was sentenced to death by hanging for multiple crimes and executed on 12 April 2017 ...

the leader of

Harkat-ul-Jihad-al-Islami Bangladesh Harkat-ul-Jihad-al-Islami Bangladesh, [] is the Bangladeshi branch of the terrorist group Harkat-ul-Jihad-al-Islami (HuJI). It is banned in Bangladesh and is a Proscribed Organisation in the United Kingdom under the Terrorism Act 2000. HuJI also ...

were sentenced to death in the case in 2008. The British High Commission welcomed the completion of the trial but opposed the death penalty. The motive for the attack was "to avenge the deaths of Muslims in Iraq and across the world by America and Britain" according to the police. The components of the grenades were traced to Afghanistan. Mufti Abdul Hannan was hanged on 13 April 2017 for his role in the bombing along with two other, Sharif Shahedul Alam Bipul and Delwar Hossain alias Ripon, involved with the attack.

Reactions

* Former British Foreign Secretary

Jack Straw John Whitaker Straw (born 3 August 1946) is a British politician who served in the Cabinet from 1997 to 2010 under the Labour governments of Tony Blair and Gordon Brown. He held two of the traditional Great Offices of State, as Home Secretary ...

issued a statement which said "I am deeply shocked by the news of this bomb and I extend my sympathies to all the victims and their families. "Details of exactly what happened and the nature of the injuries are not clear. We are grateful for the support we are receiving from the Bangladeshi authorities." * Then Prime Minister of Bangladesh

Khaleda Zia Khaleda Zia (; born Khaleda Khanam Putul in 1945) is a Bangladeshi politician who served as the Prime Minister of Bangladesh from March 1991 to March 1996, and again from June 2001 to October 2006. She was the first female prime minister of Ba ...

condemned the attack and offered her sympathies to the victims.

References

2004 murders in Bangladesh History of Bangladesh (1971–present) Terrorist incidents in Bangladesh in 2004 Terrorist incidents in Bangladesh Islamic terrorist incidents in 2004 Terrorism in Bangladesh {{Bangladesh-stub