Three journalists among those injured in bomb attack

New York, December 1, 2005 – Three journalists were among at least 29 people injured today in a bombing near a court building north of the Bangladeshi capital Dhaka, international news organizations reported. At least one person was killed in the blast in the town of Gazipur which targeted lawyers protesting twin suicide bombings against the judiciary on November 29. Those bombs killed at least 11 people.

The journalists were covering the demonstration when the blast occurred. Police said the bomber was a member of the militant Islamic group Jamayetul Mujahideen Bangladesh, which wants to impose Islamic law in the country. He was disguised as a tea vendor and detonated the explosive hidden in a flask when stopped at a police checkpoint.

Dhaka-based daily The New Nation said its Gazipur correspondent, Nazrul Islam Badami, was seriously injured. Belal Hossain, correspondent for the news agency Bangladesh Sangbad Sangstha, and Aminul Islam, news editor for the local newspaper Ajker Janata, were also injured, according to local news reports.