[Armed men on motorcycles targeted Bernicat’s
car in the residential Mohammadpur area of the capital, Dhaka, on Saturday as
she was returning from a dinner party at the home of a prominent social
activist, the embassy confirmed. The ambassador escaped unharmed.]
By Vidhi Doshi
 |
|
Students
shout slogans and block a road during a protest over road safety in Dhaka,
Bangladesh,
on Aug. 4, 2018. (A.M. Ahad/AP)
|
NEW
DELHI — Authorities in Bangladesh
said Monday that they were investigating a weekend attack on a car carrying
U.S. Ambassador Marcia Bernicat. The U.S. Embassy said the incident was not
connected to ongoing protests in the country over road safety.
Armed men on motorcycles targeted Bernicat’s
car in the residential Mohammadpur area of the capital, Dhaka, on Saturday as
she was returning from a dinner party at the home of a prominent social
activist, the embassy confirmed. The ambassador escaped unharmed.
According to the Dhaka Tribune, the attackers
chased and threw small bricks at the embassy motorcade.
“There were no injuries to the Ambassador,
her drivers, or security staff; however, two security vehicles sustained some
damage,” according to an embassy statement.
An embassy spokeswoman emphasized that the
attack was unrelated to ongoing student-led protests in Dhaka to highlight the
city’s abysmal record on road safety, but she did not give further information
about a possible motive.
Over the past few days, students aggrieved at
the abysmal state of traffic management in Dhaka have blocked roads, inspected
driver’s licenses at checkpoints and stopped drivers to inform them of road
rules. But over the weekend, the protests turned violent — vehicles were set
ablaze, and police fired rubber bullets and tear gas at crowds of chanting
students in some parts of the city.
Authorities also arrested prominent
photographer Shahidul Alam, after he said on television that the government was
using “brute force” to remain in power.
More than 40 people were injured Monday in
continuing unrest.
A spokesman for Dhaka police, Masudur Rahman,
said Monday that authorities were trying to identify the attackers in the
weekend motorcade incident and that an investigation was ongoing.
The attack on the U.S. ambassador’s motorcade
coincided with tensions between the embassy and Bangladesh’s ruling Awami
League party over Bernicat’s allegations of intimidation and ballot stuffing in
recent local elections.
On July 2, Sajeeb Wazed Joy, Prime Minister
Sheikh Hasina’s son and adviser, accused the embassy on his verified Facebook
page of being a “mouthpiece” for the opposition Bangladesh Nationalist Party.
Bernicat, a career diplomat and ambassador to
Bangladesh since 2014, has clashed with the Awami League’s leaders in recent
months. In June, addressing an audience at the National Press Club in Dhaka,
she expressed concern over reports that opposition politicians had been
intimidated during recent mayoral elections.
Earlier, she had voiced alarm at a surge in
killings of suspected drug dealers during police raids, after Hasina declared a
war on drugs. Observers say the killings abated after Bernicat raised the issue
with the government.
The U.S. Embassy in Dhaka said Monday that
the ambassador would continue with her planned schedule for this week.
Dhaka has been considered increasingly
dangerous for foreigners since a string of attacks in 2015. In 2016, terrorists
laid siege to the Holey Artisan bakery, killing 22 people.
Azad Majumder in Dhaka contributed to this
report.
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