Afghan security forces battled a group of attackers who stormed a government building in the eastern city of Jalalabad in a coordinated attack that killed at least nine people and wounded dozens, local officials say.

Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina yesterday hinted that BNP-Jamaat men had links with the recent secret killings and the government had substantial evidence in this regard. These two parties have changed their tactics and started attacking some “soft targets,” following public wrath for their arson attacks early last year, she added.

While the government was taking pride in containing militancy by cracking down on Jama'atul Mujahideen Bangladesh (JMB) over the last several years, two new radical Islamist groups have built up an extensive network that remained relatively unnoticed until late last year.

Unknown assailants yesterday hacked to death a Christian grocer in Baraigram upazila of Natore, the latest in a series of attacks on religious minorities.

A Tangail Court grants six-day remand for each of the three detainees including a local Jamaat-e-Islami leader in two cases filed in connection with killing of a Hindu tailor.