Dhaka : At least 14 people were injured Wednesday when handmade bombs were lobbed at a bus carrying faculty members of the Chittagong University (CU) in Bangladesh.
Nine teachers have been rushed to the Chittagong Medical College and Hospital, said Kazi Saifullah, chief medical officer at the university’s medical centre.
Five others, including the driver of the bus, received first-aid at the medical centre.
Md. Towhid Hasan, the CU Teachers’ Association general secretary, told bdnews24.com that three buses carrying teachers were on their way to the campus from the Chittagong city.
One of the buses was attacked by a group of young men around 10 a.m. at Hathajari’s Balir Tal area.
CU marketing department teacher H.M. Kamrul Hasan, who was in one of the buses, said six to seven people started throwing bricks and lobbing handmade bombs at the bus.
Wednesday’s attack came in the wake of a student strike that was called from Aug 31 under the banner of “Residential Hall Students” after the authorities closed down the “Islami Chhatra Shibir-dominated” Suhrawardy Hall when police found several hand bombs and country-made weapons there.
The raid followed a clash between Chhatra Shibir workers and the ruling party student affiliate Bangladesh Chhatra League (BCL) activists on the campus Aug 24.
Islami Chhatra Shibir (ICS) is the student affiliate of the Jamaat-e-Islami.
“Chhatra Shibir has called this strike. They attacked the bus,” Kamrul Hasan said.
On Jan 12, CU authorities shut down the Shah Amanat Residential Hall after two students died in a clash between ICS and BCL activists.
On Sep 1, miscreants hurled handmade bombs from a field at Choudhuryhaat targetting a shuttle train headed for the university Monday.
A CU teachers’ bus was also damaged Sep 4 at the port city’s Pahartali area.