Japanese national shot dead in northern Bangladesh

Government is trying to calm escalating security fears after the attack was claimed by the Islamic State group

DHAKA: A Japanese citizen was shot dead by gunmen in a northern Bangladesh town on Saturday, police said, days after an Italian aid worker was murdered in an attack claimed by the Islamic State group.

"A Japanese man was shot dead in the remote town of Kaunia today. He was travelling to the town on a cycle rickshaw when his vehicle was stopped by three men riding on a motorcycle," deputy police chief of Rangpur, Saifur Rahman, told AFP.

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"They shot him there and drove away. His body has been brought to the morgue of Rangpur Medical College," Rahman said, adding that the man was shot at close range.

The victim, who has yet to be identified, was aged about 55-60 and worked for a farming project in Rangpur, about 300 kilometres north of the capital Dhaka, the police official said.

The incident came less than a week after an Italian aid worker was shot dead near the diplomatic zone of Dhaka.

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The government has sought to calm escalating security fears in the country after the attack was claimed by the Islamic State group, describing it as an "isolated incident".

International schools closed temporarily and Western embassies restricted their diplomats' movements, while Australia's cricket team cancelled a planned tour of the country over security concerns.

Bangladesh prides itself on being a mainly moderate Muslim country. But the gruesome killings of a series of atheist bloggers this year have rocked the country and sparked a crackdown on local hardline Islamist groups.