Twin cocktail blasts hit separate spots in Shahbag at night

Assailants hurled a cocktail, a crude homemade bomb, at a police patrol vehicle in Dhaka’s Shahbag area on Friday night. A second one exploded near July Chattar a few hours later. Police said no one was hurt in either incident.

Sub-Inspector (SI) Abdul Khalek, the duty officer at Shahbag police station, confirmed the blasts at about 2:15 a.m. on Saturday.

Khalek said that at about 10:20 p.m., attackers on a motorcycle threw a cocktail at a police duty vehicle in front of the station’s IB gate before fleeing quickly. According to another source, the attackers escaped in the direction of Matsya Bhaban.

About two hours later, at about 12:01 a.m., a second cocktail exploded beside July Chattar. Those involved left the scene immediately after the blast.

Khalek said no injuries had been reported from either blast so far. Police said the situation in the Shahbag area was normal afterwards.

Cocktail blasts were also reported at several other places in the capital over a span of a few hours that night, not only in Shahbag. They included Adabor police station, Hazrat Shahjalal International Airport, the headquarters of the Ansar and Village Defence Party in Khilgaon, and Kalshi intersection in Mirpur. The blasts occurred between about 7:45 p.m. and 2:30 a.m., and no casualties were reported in those incidents either.