Nine people were killed and 65 wounded by suspected suicide bombings in two Bangladesh cities on Tuesday, apparently the latest in a wave of attacks by militants fighting to turn the country into a Sharia-based Islamic state. Police said three people, including two of their colleagues, were killed and 15 wounded by blasts at a checkpoint outside a court building in the port city of Chittagong. They said the third person who died was believed to be the bomber. Another blast, in a court complex in Gazipur—30 km north of the capital—killed six people and wounded nearly 50, police said. Local hospital sources said the wounded included lawyers.Lawyers said the militants were apparently trying to scare legal professionals before courts began trials of hundreds of detained Islamists for suspected involvement in recent blasts.“The bombers apparently turned more violent as we set up checkposts trying to reinforce security at court premises,” said Majedul Huq, police commissioner in Chittagong. He said the blasts were probably the work of suicide bombers, who had explosives strapped to their bodies or hidden in bags. In an immediate protest, hundreds of lawyers took to the streets of Dhaka, Chittagong and other cities, calling for government action to prevent further attacks. They boycotted courts across the country on Tuesday and also called for a general strike on Thursday.One of country’s most senior lawyers, Dr. Kamal Hossain, said Tuesday’s blasts were a “stark reminder that the suicide bombers wouldn’t rest until they they achieve their mission. “We reminded the government repeatedly of such threats but they seemed to take it lightly,” he said. “Now it is beyond doubt that they (Islamists) have pushed the country into grave danger,”Hossain told reporters on Tuesday.“The government is fully determined to crush the militants at all costs and restore peace in the country,” said Abdul Mannan Bhuiyan, a senior minister in charge of the home ministry. The Islamists killed two judges in the coastal town of Jhalakathi on November 14 and threatened to kill more, including Supreme Court judges.Bombs exploded in three district courts outside Dhaka last month, killing two people and wounding more than a dozen, while 500 small bombs went off across the country on August 17, killing two people and wounding about 100.Bangladeshi police have acknowledged since those attacks the the presence of home-grown potential suicide bombers. They say a 2,000-strong “suicide squad” has been formed from members of the Jamaat-ul-Mujahideen and two other banned groups, the Jagrata Muslim Janata Bangladesh and the Harkatul Jihad.Opposition political parties claim radical Islamic partners of Prime Minister Begum Khaleda Zia’s government were also involved in the recent bombings—pointing fingers especially to the Jamaat-e-Islami party. But the Jamaat and the government have both denied the allegation, saying the opposition was spreading false charges to make political gains ahead of general elections in early 2007. —Reuters
