Murders test Bangladesh claims that radical Islam in check - Yahoo News

A string of slayings claimed by radical Islamic groups has Bangladesh scrambling to contain what appears to be a rising tide of extremism, and it couldn't have come at a worse time — the country's fragile economic growth is faltering this year amid renewed political unrest.

The secular South Asian nation — traditionally moderate even if unstable at times — has repeatedly insisted it has religious radicalism in check and is maintaining peace among its 160 million people. That claim was severely tested this week after an Italian aid worker became the fifth person to be killed this year in attacks claimed by extremist groups.

A foreigner being gunned down in the country's capital is bad news for Bangladesh, whose economy is heavily reliant on a $25 billion garment industry that produces clothing and fashion wear for international brands including Zara, Benetton and Gap.

Hassan Shariar, a well-known political commentator and columnist, said even though the government won't acknowledge it, there clearly are pockets of radical Islam in the country.

"I don't know why intelligence (agencies) failed to understand that things are going out of control," he said. "It is clearly evident ... that they are failing to contain it with an iron hand."

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Then on Monday, three motorcycle-riding assailants gunned down the Italian aid worker, Cesare Tavella, in the diplomatic quarter of Dhaka. The Sunni extremist group Islamic State claimed responsibility and vowed more such killings in Muslim-majority countries.

The government dismissed the IS claim, saying there was no evidence. It described the killing as an "isolated incident."

"There is no existence of the Islamic State here," Home Minister Asaduzzaman Khan said Tuesday.

Murders test Bangladesh claims that radical Islam in check - Yahoo News