Unidentified gunmen shot dead one muezzin at a Shia mosque in northern Bogra, Bangladesh, on Thursday, raising fears among the country’s Shia community.

Fifty-five year-old Moazzem Hossain was gunned down and three other community members received bullet injuries, including the mosque's Imam, when they were preparing for the evening prayer.

Like the previous attacks, there were three assailants. Local people said the area had been free from any communal strife between Shias and Sunnis.

Additional police have been deployed in Bogra district as the situation is tense following the shooting.

Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina said after Thursday’s attack that those attacking mosques were not ‘true Muslims’.

This is the second such attack on the Shia Muslim community in Bangladesh. Last month, a blast targeted a gathering of Shias at Old Dhaka during Ashura, leaving 2 dead and over 100 injured.

Previous attacks

Like the previous attacks, including the killing Italian and Japanese nationals, the Islamic State (IS) has claimed responsibility for Thursday’s attack, according to the US-based SITE Intelligence group. No other sources has authenticated the claim.

Both the government and security forces have repeatedly maintained that the terror group has no organisational presence in Bangladesh. However, according to SITE, the IS has said it has a “regional leader” in Bangladesh and threatened to carry out more attacks in the country.

Police have detained two persons for questioning in connection with Thursday’s shooting. Police have also claimed they busted a Jamaa’tul Mujahideen Bangladesh ‘module’ on Thursday after killing the outfit’s military chief the night before.

They have also arrested five people over their involvement in recent subversive activities including the last month’s bomb attack in Dhaka.