Italian aid worker shot dead in Bangladesh

The Italian man was gunned down in Dhaka's diplomatic zone on Monday, police said, and died later in hospital.

"A 50-year-old man called Tavella Cesare was shot three times at Road Number 90 in the capital's Gulshan area in the afternoon today," Dhaka police spokesman Muntashirul Islam told Agence France-Presse.

"He died after being brought to a Dhaka hospital."

The man is understood to have worked for a Netherlands-based global development agency that has offices in Bangladesh.

An online statement later claimed responsibility in the name of the "Islamic State" militant group, saying its attackers followed the man and shot him dead. The claim could not be independently verified and police said they were not aware of it.

There have been heightened security fears in the country after the violent deaths of a number of atheist bloggers this year, which sparked a crackdown on local hard-line Islamist groups.

The Australian cricket team delayed its departure to Bangladesh for an October tour after its government said there was a potential security risk from militants.

The Bangladeshi government has been trying to counter Islamist groups who want to make the South Asian nation of 160 million a Sharia-based Islamic state.

jr/cmk (Reuters, AFP)