Grenades kill Bangladesh lawmaker
From Journalist Tasneem Khalil
SYLHET, Bangladesh (CNN) -- -- Insurgents hurled grenades at Bangladesh's former finance minister, Shah AMS Kibria as he spoke at a political rally Thursday, killing the opposition lawmaker and at least three others.
Nearly 50 people were wounded.
Kibria survived the initial attack, which happened around 7 p.m. (6 a.m. ET), but later died of his injuries. His nephew was also killed in the blast.
His opposition party, the Awami League, has been the target of numerous deadly attacks over the past few months. There has been no claim of responsibility for any of the attacks.
The Awami League called for demonstrations in Dhaka Friday to protest the bombing. The opposition party also called for a nationwide, dawn-to-dusk protest on Saturday, in which shops will be closed and everyone is asked to stay home from work.
The attack happened in Habiganj, about 65 miles (105 km) northeast of Dhaka.
One party official, who was also injured in the explosion, said the grenade was hurled at Kibria after he finished his speech Thursday at the Boidder Bazar primary school. Kibria "sustained serious injuries in both his legs" and was rushed to Dhaka in an ambulance.
It is the second fatal attack on an Awami League rally in recent months.
On August 21, a grenade attack on former Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina's rally in Dhaka left 21 people dead and hundreds injured.
Kibria served as finance minister under Sheikh Hasina, who was also a leader of the Awami League.