Published: Sep 29, 2015, 11:19 AM (IST)
Edited: Sep 29, 2015, 11:19 AM (IST)
An Italian citizen was shot dead by assailants on Monday night in Dhaka, Bangladesh. Later on, ISIS claimed responsibility for the attack in an online statement, revealing that the attackers followed the Italian and shot him dead. This event comes across just when the Cricket Australia officials were in Dhaka to assess the future of the tour after Australia’s Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade and national security organisation ASIO informed the cricket board about “reliable information to suggest that militants may be planning to target Australian interests”. Cricket Australia officials left Dhaka on Tuesday leaving doubt about the future of the tour. Cricket Australia officials leave Bangladesh with tour in doubt
Cesare Tavella, the Italian who was shot, was aged 50 and was working at a Netherlands-based non-governmental organization. He was shot in Dhaka’s diplomatic zone when he was taking his evening walk. On Monday, the British government also warned that militants may be targeting western interests in the country, just after the Italian worker was shot dead. Australia tour of Bangladesh 2015 fate depends on top-level security meeting
“UK officials have been advised to limit attendance at events where westerners may gather,” it said in a travel advisory. Bangladesh prides itself on being a mainly moderate Muslim nation but the gruesome killings of a series of atheist bloggers this year rocked the country and sparked a crackdown on local hardline Islamist groups. Bangladesh confident of Australia arriving for Test series as per schedule
On Tuesday morning, Cricket Australia officials left Bangladesh with no final decision on the upcoming Test tour. The team’s departure was delayed on Sunday on security fears, prompting Dhaka to pledge to provide the kind of measures usually reserved for visiting heads of state if the tour goes ahead. “There has been no change to our position on the matter,” a spokeswoman for Cricket Australia told AFP via email on Tuesday. CA’s anti-corruption and security manager Sean Carroll met top security and intelligence officials in Dhaka on Monday. Bangladesh promises Australia with highest level of security
The first Test is scheduled from October 9 in Chittagong and the second from October 17 in Dhaka following a three-day warm-up match scheduled to start on Saturday in Fatullah.
