In the wake of the killing of two foreigners within a week, the Bangladesh government has ratcheted up security for foreign nationals living in the country.
The authorities have started identifying the places where about 224,000 foreigners live and work to ensure their security, government sources told The Hindu . Bangladesh’s Home Minister Asaduzzaman Khan Kamal has said a “special task force” has been formed in this regard.
The security measures in Dhaka’s Gulshan and Baridhara diplomatic zones, where Italian aid worker Cesare Tavella was shot dead on September 28, have been beefed up.
>Read: Who’s behind the killings of foreigners in Bangladesh?
Japanese Kunio Hoshi was killed in northern Rangpur on October 3. Several Western counties have issued travel restrictions for their citizens amid security concerns.
An intelligence group had claimed that the IS had been involved in the killings. The government has rejected the claim, but hinted that its political adversaries, including the Jamaat e Islami, could be behind the violence.
Bangladesh Foreign Minister A.H. Mahmud Ali told the foreign envoys based in Dhaka on Tuesday that there was no proof of IS’s involvement. “We haven’t got any credible evidence yet,” he said.
Meanwhile, British High Commissioner Robert Gibson, also the dean of diplomatic corps, said the diplomatic community felt ‘assured’ with the government’s measures but stressed beefing up security across the country.”
