Police in Bangladesh have arrested 30 suspected members of outlawed Islamist groups after a suicide bomb attack killed at least eight people yesterday.
A dozen bombs were seized in raids across the country, the official said, as police hunted for the leaders of the banned Jamaat-ul-Mujahideen and Jagrata Muslim Janata Bangladesh groups, blamed for the attacks in their campaign for Islamic sharia rule.
Two bombs exploded on a crowded street in the northern town of Netrokona yesterday, killing eight people and wounding 50, many on their way to work.
A suicide bomber was believed to be among the dead, while another was found wounded with an unexploded bomb strapped to his body.
"These bombers are enemies of Islam and must be stopped," said an official at the Ministry of Religious Affairs, adding the government had asked clerics to spread the message from the nation's 250,000 mosques.
State Minister for Home Affairs Lutfuzzaman Babar said last month Islamists had formed a 2,000-strong suicide squad to press home their demands.
Yesterday's deaths took the number of people killed by suspected suicide bombers to 28 in three weeks, including judges, lawyers and policemen. At least 150 people have been wounded.