(Morning Star News) – The Islamic State (IS) today claimed its members were responsible for hacking to death a Christian in Bangladesh who had left Islam, while Bangladeshi police said the claim was “bogus.”
At least two unidentified assailants on Tuesday (March 22) killed Hossain Ali, 68, who converted to Christianity in 1999, as he took in Garialpara, Kurigram District.
The SITE Intelligence Group reported that IS posted a statement on Twitter saying the murder was “a lesson to others.”
“A security detachment from the soldiers of the Caliphate was able, by the grace of Allah the Almighty, to kill the apostate [Ali], who changed his religion and became a preacher for the polytheist Christianity,” the IS statement read, according to SITE.
The Bangladesh government denies IS has operatives in the country, and police today rejected the its claim of responsibility for the killing of Ali, stating that was “bogus,” according to the AFP.
Police have arrested five men for questioning, a police official in Kurigram District told AFP.
IS has claimed responsibility for a series of attacks on converts from Islam and minorities in Bangladesh, including Christians, Shiites, Sufis, Hindus and Ahmadis. Bangladeshi officials have blamed the Jamayetul Mujahideen Bangladesh, a banned militant group, for the violence.
Ali’s son, Ruhul Amin Azad, said his father had no enemies, but that the family has had disputes with area residents over land ownership, according to The Daily Star.
Another Christian convert from Islam in Bangladesh, 75-year-old pastor Khaza Somiruddin, was slain on Jan. 6 in Jenaidah. Active in evangelism, he had received several threats from Islamic extremists.
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