Identifier
Created
Classification
Origin
05DHAKA5837
2005-11-29 11:48:00
CONFIDENTIAL
Embassy Dhaka
Cable title:  

SUSPECTED JMB SUICIDE BOMBERS KILL EIGHT, WOUND

Tags:  PTER ASEC KISL PREL BG 
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This record is a partial extract of the original cable. The full text of the original cable is not available.
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
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.

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
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