US embassy cable - 05DHAKA5837

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 DHAKA 005837 
 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL: 11/29/2010 
TAGS: PTER, ASEC, KISL, PREL, BG, BG Terrorism 
SUBJECT: SUSPECTED JMB SUICIDE BOMBERS KILL EIGHT, WOUND 
DOZENS IN TWO ATTACKS 
 
REF: DHAKA 5627 
 
Classified By: A/DCM D.C. McCullough, reasons para 1.4 d. 
 
1. (C) Summary.  Suspected JMB suicide bombers killed at 
least eight persons and wounded dozens in separate courthouse 
attacks this morning in Chittagong and Gazipur, according to 
police and media reports.  PM Zia denounced JMB as an enemy 
of Bangladesh, and the opposition Awami League has backed the 
Supreme Court Bar Association's call for a December 1 
nationwide protest strike.  While there was confusion over 
whether the November 15 killing of two judges was a bungled 
suicide attack, there appears to be little doubt that 
Bangladesh has now entered the club of nations victimized by 
suicide bombers.  End Summary. 
 
Crossing the Tripwire 
--------------------- 
 
2. (SBU) Within a 45-minute span on November 29, unidentified 
assailants detonated improvised explosive devices (IED) in or 
near courthouses in the southern port city of Chittagong and 
in Gazipur, a small city 38 kilometers north of Dhaka.  The 
first attack occurred at approximately 0830 local, when two 
persons approached a police checkpoint vetting visitors to 
the Chittagong courthouse and detonated their IED's.  Two 
policemen and one attacker were killed, and 20 persons, 
including 13 policemen, were injured.  The injured apparently 
includes a badly maimed second attacker. 
 
3. (SBU) At approximately 0945, a young man wearing a 
lawyer's gown entered a room at Gazipur courthouse used by 
lawyers to wait for their trials, and detonated his IED, 
killing himself and five others, including a senior local 
lawyer.  As many as 40 persons may have been injured. 
 
4. (SBU) Reports of a third attack, in Sirajganj, 142 
kilometers north of Dhaka, proved to be unfounded. 
 
5. (SBU) According to police contacts, the IEDs were strapped 
to the backs of the attackers in both Gazipur and Chittagong. 
 
Reaction 
-------- 
 
6. (SBU) Speaking at a public event in the southern district 
of Patuakhali, Prime Minister Khaleda Zia condemned the 
attacks, denounced Jamaat ulMujahidin Bangladesh (JMB), the 
presumed perpetrators of the attacks, as an enemy of 
Bangladesh, and expressed anger over its misuse of Islam as a 
pretext for a campaign of violence.  BNP General Secretary 
and Local Government Minister Abdul Mannan Bhuyian, in charge 
of the Home Ministry since Home State Minister Babar is in 
Singapore for medical treatment, visited the wounded at Dhaka 
Medical College Hospital and vowed to bring the perpetrators 
to justice.  The Chittagong police commissioner characterized 
the attack in his city as a suicide attack, and Inspector 
General of Police Abdul Quayum, visiting the site in Gazipur, 
told the media that police face a major challenge in dealing 
with JMB's new "modus operandi." 
 
7. (SBU) Lawyers throughout Bangladesh began a wildcat 
boycott of courthouses.  Pro-BNP lawyers blasted the attacks 
as an anti-Bangladesh conspiracy, while pro-opposition 
lawyers condemned the BDG for failing to protect judges and 
lawyers.  The pro-opposition Supreme Court Bar Association 
announced, and the Awami League has endorsed, a nationwide 
protest general strike on December 1. 
 
The Pattern Broadens 
-------------------- 
 
8. (SBU) There have been no claims of responsibility for 
today's attacks, though one media contact states that a 
handwritten Jamaat ulMujahidin Bangladesh (JMB) leaflet 
calling for the immediate implementation of sharia law was 
found at the attack site in Chittagong.  Such a leaflet would 
be consistent with earlier attacks.  However, today's attacks 
come after near daily written and telephonic threats the past 
two weeks attributed to JMB against judges, journalists and 
Bangladeshi social development NGO's.  This is the fifth 
deadly attack against the Bangladeshi judicial system since 
the August 17 nationwide bomb blasts, and the third instance 
of synchronized serial attacks.  While there was no known JMB 
threat against a Gazipur judge, on November 20 an alleged JMB 
activist threatened to kill a senior judge in Chittagong if 
he did not start trying cases under sharia law.  On November 
18, JMB threatened to blow up Rajshahi prison if JMB cadres 
were not released by November 30. 
 
9. (SBU) The August 17 blasts blanketed every area of 
Bangladesh.  Since then, reported JMB attacks and threats 
have occurred in all six divisions, with the heaviest 
concentration in Chittagong, Dhaka, Rajshahi, and Khulna. 
 
Embassy Response 
---------------- 
 
10. (C) Embassy EAC met and reviewed security procedures 
(septel).  New precautions including extra vigilance on 
screening visitors to USG facilities, and heightening local 
guard awareness about the suicide bomber threat.  A warden 
message was sent out reminding all American citizens to 
exercise caution and noting that courthouses have been 
singled out for attack. 
 
Comment 
------- 
 
11. (C) While the November 15 assassination of two provincial 
judges may have been a bungled suicide attack (reftel), 
police and DGFI contacts tell us that today's attacks clearly 
mark Bangladesh's entry to the club of nations victimized by 
suicide bombers.  Their presumption is that the bombers were 
young Bangladeshi men and that more JMB suicide bombers are 
in the wings.  In these circumstances, there is every reason 
to think the attacks will continue, and that the gap between 
incidents -- now 14 days -- may continue to shorten.  There 
is no indication that JMB is planning to attack U.S. or 
western targets, but this could change with little notice. 
There is also the risk of becoming collateral damage.  The 
Peace Corps training center, now vacant, is in Gazipur, and 
while all three Peace Corps volunteers in Gazipur are safe, 
one of today's fatalities was an English student in a PCV's 
class. 
GEORGE