Islamic State reportedly claims responsibility for Italian charity worker’s murder in Bangladesh

[BanglaBhoot]

The Islamic State has claimed responsibility for the murder of an Italian national in Bangladesh, a jihadist threat monitoring portal, SITE Intelligence Group, says.

An NGO official, Cesare Tavella, aged around 50, was shot dead on Monday evening at the heart of Dhaka’s diplomatic enclave in Gulshan amid the UK and Australia’s security concerns.

This would be the first attack in Bangladesh by the radical Sunni Islamist militant group that has seized large swathes of territory in eastern Syria and across northern and western Iraq.

The government has vowed zero tolerant to any form of militant and extremism.

Police earlier in May arrested a group planning to float an organisation like the IS in order to establish Khilafat in Bangladesh.

The SITE Intelligence Group ran the story of the IS claim with a message written in Arabic.

The IS claimed their responsibility just hours after the murder that left law-enforcing agencies, who were allaying Cricket Australia’s concerns on Monday, puzzled.

Witnesses told bdnews24.com the assailants tailed Tavella, the project manager of NGO ICCO Cooperation’s Profitable Opportunities for Food Security (PROOFS) programme, before gunned him down on Road 90 at about 7pm.

He was jogging wearing t-shirt and three-quarter pants on the street close to the High Commission of Pakistan and Bangladesh Bank governor’s residence.

Who are the SITE Intelligence Group?
Once a little known research group, the Site intelligence surprised many last year when it published a video showing the murder of American journalist Steven Joel Sotloff even before the jihadist did.

According to the UK-based newspaper The Independent, Site (it stands for ‘Search for International Terrorist Entities’) is a for-profit US-based consultancy group that monitors and tracks the activities of “international terrorists and the global jihadist network”.

The group has ties to both the US government and commercial clients and specialises in monitoring the online activities of jihadist and issue warning to their clients, the newspaper said in an article last year.

A profile of Rita Katz, the Director and co-founder of the SITE Intelligence Group, said she studied, tracked, and analysed international terrorists, the global jihadist network and terrorism financing for more than a decade.

The New Yorker magazine in 2006 described Site’s customers as “people in government […] frustrated by how long it takes to get information through official channels” as well as “people in corporate security and in the media”.

The Independent said in 2004 Katz was commended by the FBI for her contributions to counterterrorism investigations, and in 2007 her group was credited with finding the first videos of Osama bin Laden after three years of silence.

Islamic State reportedly claims responsibility for Italian charity worker’s murder in Bangladesh -
bdnews24.com

 

[monitor]

Street light were switch off during the attack. After the attack again the lights gets on. Something fishy

 

[24 Hours]

Was just about to post this. Italian media is understandably going frantic about it. This is not going to go well for the Australian tour.

 

[monitor]

Was just about to post this. Italian media is understandably going frantic about it. This is not going to go well for the Australian tour.

Someone wants to disrupt asui tour.

 

[third eye]

Someone wants to disrupt asui tour.

Suggesting thereby that had there been no planned Aussie tour this man would not have died ?

 

[Stannis Baratheon]

The government has vowed zero tolerant to any form of militant and extremism.

Then I guess the government is going to rid of itself!

BTW, whoever wrote the article doesn't have a good understanding of English. It's militancy not militant.

 

[bongbang]

IMO there should be 2 suspects beside his personal level enmity

RAW: Because BCB sent the women team to Pakistan. RAW had intention to isolate Pakistan cricket and BCB just broke that. In revenge they are trying to isolate BD sports now.

JeI/IS/AQ/JMB: These are anti BD elements. So behind every destabilization of BD their links should be thoroughly examined.

 

[extra terrestrial]

SITE Intelligence Group.... isn't it the same one which previously tried to pass off video game images as a message of Nuclear Jihad from Al Qaeda?

 

[Md Akmal]

DHAKA, Bangladesh (AP) — The Islamic State group has claimed responsibility for gunning down an Italian aid worker in the diplomatic quarter of Bangladesh's capital, according to an intelligence group that monitors jihadist threats, while the government said it had no evidence to back up that claim.
The claim by the Sunni extremist group could not immediately be verified independently, but if confirmed would mark its first attack in Bangladesh, a secular country with a predominantly Muslim population. The South Asian nation has been struggling in recent months with the rapid rise of hard-line Islamic groups, banning several that have been blamed for killing four bloggers this year.
Home Minister Asaduzzamn Khan said, however, that authorities had found no evidence that the Islamic State was involved in the killing."The claim has not been confirmed, there is no such evidence," Khan told reporters Tuesday afternoon in the capital, Dhaka.
Police said earlier that they had no leads in tracing the three unidentified assailants who, riding on a single motorcycle, drove up alongside Italian citizen Cesare Tavella and shot him Monday night. "We have no idea, we can't say anything definitively for now," police official Mukhlesur Rahman said. "Let the investigation happen."

View gallery

Members of Bangladeshi police and detective branch stand by the site where Italian citizen Cesare Ta …
Initial evidence suggested the attack was planned, police said, noting that nothing had been taken from Tavella.The Islamic State said in a statement dated Monday that a "security detachment" had tracked and killed Tavella with "silenced weapons" in Dhaka, according to the SITE intelligence group's website.
IS warned that "citizens of the crusader coalition" would not be safe in Muslim nations. Almost 90 percent of Bangladesh's 160 million people are Muslim.Witnesses said they heard at least three gunshots and saw the attackers flee after Tavella fell to the ground, according to police. Tavella was taken to a nearby hospital, where doctors declared him dead.
It was not immediately clear how close the witnesses were to the attack or how the gunshots could have been heard if a silencer was used.

View gallery

A detective branch member walks past the site where Italian citizen Cesare Tavella was gunned down b …
Italian Foreign Minister Paolo Gentiloni said Monday evening in New York that "we are working to verify" Islamic State's claim.The Italian Embassy in Dhaka said in a notice on its website Tuesday that "the responsibility for the murder claimed by ISIS is yet to be verified." It also asked Italian citizens to avoid public places such as hotels, restaurants and clubs usually frequented by foreigners.
Tavella had been working in Dhaka for ICCO, a Netherlands-based church cooperative, serving as program manager of a project focusing on food security and economic development for people living in rural areas in Bangladesh, according to ICCO's website.
A veterinarian in his early 50s, Tavella had spent extended periods of time traveling the world and giving instruction on how to raise animals, according to Italian media reports. He left for Bangladesh in late August and had a daughter.
Reports indicate he hadn't spent much time in Italy recently, at least extended periods, and that he last lived in central Italy above Ravenna.
View gallery

Members of Bangladeshi police and detective branch stand by the site where Italian citizen Cesare Ta …
The United States and Britain also warned their citizens to be cautious in Bangladesh, with both saying they had "reliable information" that Western interests could be targeted and urging their citizens to limit their movements in the country. The statements did not elaborate on the intelligence.
Over the weekend, Australia's national cricket team delayed its planned tour in Bangladesh over security concerns. The tour has not been rescheduled despite assurances from Bangladesh's government that the players would have a full security detail. Dhaka police were questioning witnesses, including street beggars who allegedly heard the gunshots and saw the attackers flee.One of the witnesses, Sitara Begum, said she was terrified upon hearing the shots while she was sitting on the road at an intersection near the scene of the attack.
"Hearing the gunshots, I looked at the west side and saw two men running to a waiting bike," Begum said. "They were very young, not more than 20 years old. ... There was another man on the bike and they fled."

Despite the government's banning of several radical Islamic groups from Bangladesh, intelligence sources have confirmed that several hard-line groups are active in the country. The local group Ansarullah Bangla Team, which has apparent links with al-Qaida on the Indian subcontinent, has claimed responsibility for killing four bloggers who criticized Islam's Prophet Muhammad and radical Islam.

Associated Press writers Colleen Barry in Milan, Italy, and Mike Corder in The Hague, Netherlands, contributed to this report.

 

[Kaniska]

This is an unfortunate incident...BTW, the context of this issue should be seen in a larger perspective than simply cricket...Is it also not true, these are same people who killed some bloggers who claimed to be secular or something like that..

Coming to Australia tour of BD, if Aus does not tour to BD for this kind of incident, then it should be the fault of Aus as no Gov can not stop some murders and these GOV in any nation....Is it not this kind of incidents happen in Aus too?

 

[kobiraaz]

Suggesting thereby that had there been no planned Aussie tour this man would not have died ?

It is no ordinary murder. Australian intelligence had knowledge about it. Then when they made it public quickly someone kills a random foreigner.

 

[24 Hours]

SITE Intelligence Group.... isn't it the same one which previously tried to pass off video game images as a message of Nuclear Jihad from Al Qaeda?

Apparently they stated they didn't know it was a video game, but denied that it was part of a "nuclear jihad."

This is an unfortunate incident...BTW, the context of this issue should be seen in a larger perspective than simply cricket...Is it also not true, these are same people who killed some bloggers who claimed to be secular or something like that..

Coming to Australia tour of BD, if Aus does not tour to BD for this kind of incident, then it should be the fault of Aus as no Gov can not stop some murders and these GOV in any nation....Is it not this kind of incidents happen in Aus too?

Though it cannot be verified that it is ISIS yet, attacks in this sort of nature are almost unknown in Australia, the closest thing I can think of is the hostage situation. Additionally, this sort of attack is different in comparison to the killing of the bloggers.

 

[mb444]

poor guy..rip..... pointless murder...

 

[24 Hours]

KILLING OF ITALIAN NATIONAL
Foreign missions concerned
More countries issue security alerts

Diplomatic Correspondent

The killing of Italian national Cesare Tavella inside the capital's diplomatic zone has created a security flutter among different foreign missions in Dhaka.

A number of diplomatic missions and donor agencies have condemned Monday's killing of Tavella, who worked for a Netherlands-based NGO, and called for a quick investigation into the incident.

The Unites States, the United Kingdom, Canada and Australia have issued travel alerts for their citizens in Bangladesh and asked them to take whatever precautions they feel necessary.

Meanwhile, security has been beefed up in the diplomatic area with deployment of additional law enforcers, according to a press release of the Police Headquarters.

Special security arrangements have been made for international organisations and steps taken to increase cooperation and coordination among different agencies, it says.

DIPLOMATS MEET

British High Commissioner Robert Gibson, also the dean of Diplomatic Corps, yesterday held a meeting at his residence with a number of ambassadors and high commissioners of different countries in Dhaka.

British High Commission Spokesperson Fouzia Younis-Suleman told The Daily Star that the envoys discussed Tavella's murder with their international partners.

"We are in close touch with our international partners and have discussed the incident with them," she added.

CONDEMNATIONS POUR IN

Condemning the killing, the European Union yesterday said, "We are deeply saddened by the news of the murder yesterday in Dhaka of Italian aid worker Cesare Tavella ...

"Our thoughts are with Mr Tavella's family, friends and colleagues as well as with the Italian authorities, to all of whom we convey our deepest condolences.

"Those responsible for this act must be brought to justice ... We will stand firm in upholding the values of solidarity and life," a spokesperson of the EU External Action in Brussels said in a statement.

Earlier in the day, EU Ambassador to Bangladesh Pierre Mayaudon condemned the incident "in the strongest possible terms" and urged the law enforcement agencies to promptly investigate "this barbaric aggression" and bring the perpetrators to justice.

"Cesare Tavella had come to Bangladesh for helping the poorest of the poor which makes this crime even more horrific," he said.

In a separate statement, British High Commissioner Gibson said he was dismayed at the violent murder.

"It was a horrifying and cowardly crime against an aid worker working for the people of Bangladesh, helping the most vulnerable. I extend my deepest condolences to Tavella's family and friends," he added.

The Italian Embassy in a notice, written in red fonts, to Italian nationals, said: "It's still not clear the motive behind the murder -- crime or terrorist act -- of the aid worker Cesare Tavella ... The responsibility for the murder claimed by ISIS is yet to be verified. As a precautionary measure, therefore, the Italian Embassy calls upon all the fellow countrymen to avoid places (hotels, restaurants, clubs, international schools) and events which are normally frequented or attended by foreigners."

In a Facebook post, the Netherlands Embassy in Dhaka said: "We strongly condemn this violent attack and urge the law enforcement agencies to promptly investigate this barbaric aggression and bring the perpetrators to justice."

Tavella was employed by the Netherlands-based ICCO and was managing a food security project financed by the Netherlands Embassy. "He started his work in May 2015, he did an amazing job. He was well respected and liked," the Facebook post said.

TRAVEL ALERTS

The Canadian government on its official website mentioned that there is a "threat of terrorism" in Bangladesh.

"At the end of September 2015, the Australian and [the] United Kingdom Governments informed their citizens that there is reliable information to suggest that militants may be planning to target Western interests in Bangladesh," it said.

On Monday night, the Bureau of Diplomatic Security of the US State Department advised US citizens in Bangladesh to review security practices.

"The US Embassy in Dhaka advises US citizens resident in Bangladesh to review their security practices and take whatever precautions they determine are prudent. As always, remain vigilant regarding your personal security and be alert to local security developments. It is always advisable to keep your security and situational awareness levels high," it said.

Following the shooting of the Italian aid worker on Monday evening, the US Embassy instructed its staff to "shelter in place" till yesterday morning. American International School in Dhaka too remained closed yesterday.

Meanwhile, the British government further updated its travel advice.

"The Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) has claimed responsibility [for the Italian's murder]; a number of international schools and expatriate clubs have closed for the day on 29 September as a precaution; you should be particularly vigilant at this time," says the advice posted on the UK government's website.

"There is reliable information that militants may be planning to target western interests in Bangladesh," it said and advised the UK officials to limit their attendance at events where westerners may gather, for example in hotels or conference centres.

Earlier on Monday, the UK issued a similar travel alert for its citizens, saying militants may be targeting westerners in Bangladesh in late September. The same day, Italian aid worker Tavella was gunned down in Gulshan-2 area of the capital.

 

[asad71]

We don't know the victim's background. Who was he really? Was he connected with any terrorist or intel agency? While people are getting killed everyday (and there Washington DC tops the list) how come so much interest in this man? We don't know about his character, family life, etc.