Flight operations normal despite bomb blast outside the airport in Bangladesh capital: Minister

Civil Aviation and Tourism Minister Rashed Khan Menon has said that the flight operations in Shahjalal International Airport remain normal despite a bomb blast outside the main entrance of the airport in which one person is killed.

“Nothing happened at the airport. Whatever has happened, happened outside the airport. The airport has the highest level of security. There is no cause for panic,” he told bdnews24.com.

The minister said no one other than the person carrying the bomb was injured in the blast.

The blast was initially suspected a suicide attack on airport police check post but a senior police official later clarified that it was not an attempted suicide attack, rather a pedestrian was carrying the bomb in a trolley bag which suddenly exploded Friday evening. 

Tourism Minister Rashed Khan Menon hold a press conference at the Bangabandhu International Conference Centre at the end of the international meet on Buddhist heritage on Wednesday. Photo: asaduzzaman pramanik

Armed Police Battalion (APBn) Assistant Commissioner Tanzila Akter told bdnews24.com after the blast that it was a 'suicide attack', but Dhaka Metropolitan Police Commissioner Asaduzzaman Mia later said it was not a suicide attack, rather "the explosion occurred when the man carrying the bomb in a trolley bag became extra-careful while crossing the police check post area."

Security was strengthened at the airports and prisons across Bangladesh after a suicide attacker was killed in a blast at the RAB barracks in Ashkona near the airport on Mar 17 and another attack on the following day in Khilgaon check point in which the attacker was shot dead by RAB.

During the past week acts of terrorism and attacks on police were reported from the port city of Chittagong, Comilla and Sylhet.