US embassy cable - 05DHAKA1704

UNCLAS DHAKA 001704 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SENSITIVE 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PGOV, PTER, KISL, BG, BG Terrorism 
SUBJECT: Attacks in 2005 on "Un-Islamic" Targets 
 
Ref: Dhaka 0361 
 
1. (SBU) Since 1999, there have been at least 18 unsolved 
bombings against the political opposition, cultural events, 
and other people and occasions viewed by Islamist extremists 
as "un-Islamic" (reftel).  In 2005, there has been a clear 
broadening of such attacks. 
 
2. (SBU) Media and other sources report the following 
incidents: 
 
-- In the early hours of January 10, a petrol bomb hurled at 
a Jatra (cultural) show in Digpait in Jamalpur district 
injured 10 people, including performers. 
 
--On January 12, explosions at a drama festival at village 
Chakpara in the northern district of Sherpur injured 10 
people.  Police arrested two suspects. 
 
--On January 14, an explosion at a Jatra festival in the 
northern Bogra district killed one person and injured about 
40 others.  The same night explosions at another Jatra show 
in neighboring Natore district injured 10 members of the 
audience.  One of the injured persons later died. 
 
--On January 20, three bombs at a Jatra show in Sharishabari 
sub-district in Jamalpur district injured about 40 people, 
including a female dancer. 
 
--On January 27, unidentified persons hurled two bombs on 
stage during a folk music session at Golmunda in the 
Jaldhaka sub-district of Nilfamari district.   One female 
artist was injured. 
 
--On February 10, unidentified people hurled two bombs at an 
office of the Bangladesh Rural Advancement Committee (BRAC) 
NGO in Gaibandha district causing injuries to three BRAC 
employees. 
 
--On February 13, two persons died in an attack on the BRAC 
office in Kalai sub-district in Jaipurhat. 
 
--On February 14, four bombs went off at a Valentine's Day 
function near the Teachers-Students Center at Dhaka 
University, injuring about 40 people.  Police recovered and 
defused three more bombs from the spot. 
 
--On February 15, four BRAC employees sustained injuries in 
a bomb attack on their office in Porsha sub-district in 
Naogon district. 
 
--Also On February 15, three hand grenades were found in the 
BRAC office in Rangpur. 
 
--On February 16, two employees of the Grameen Bank branch 
at Nabagram village in Ullapara sub-district of Siranjganj 
district sustained injuries as unidentified people hurled 
bombs.  Grameen is a micro-credit pioneer famous for helping 
mostly poor rural women. 
 
--On February 27, a Molotov cocktail exploded near the 
Grameen Bank office at Tahirpur in the Bagmara sub-district 
of Rajshahi. 
 
--On March 1, an office of CARITAS at Govidapur in Khansama 
sub-district in Dinajpur district caught fire following the 
explosion of two petrol bombs. 
 
--On March 25, activists of Islami Chhatra Shibir (ICS),the 
student wing of Jamaat-e-Islami, barred a cultural group in 
Chittagong University from screening two films critical of 
Islamic conservatism and made the organizers show instead 
two commercial movies. 
 
3. (SBU) Comment: On Februay 23, police arrested 17 alleged 
Islamist leaders and banned two Islamist organizations in 
connection with the attacks on BRAC, which may account for 
the sharp falloff in attacks in March. 
 
THOMAS