(MENAFN- Live Mint) The Christian minority in Bangladesh are shaken and scared after three crude bomb attacks on two Catholic churches and a school in the country over the past few weeks, according to an AFP report. No injuries have been reported so far.

No group has claimed responsibility for the attacks or given reasons for the targets, but police confirmed the attacks were“certainly” designed to sow terror, it added.

The first attack took place on October 8, when a crude bomb was hurled at Dhaka's oldest church, the Holy Rosary Catholic Church, established by the Portuguese in the 17th century.

Then, overnight Friday (November 7), attackers targeted two more Catholic locations - St Mary's Cathedral and St Joseph's School and College.

Notably, Bangladesh's Christian community are a small minority numbering 5,00,000 in the country of 17 crore people, it said.

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Dhaka police spokesman Muhammad Talebur Rahman told AFP,“We are trying to determine whether the incidents are connected or isolated - they are certainly aimed at terrifying people.”

Rahman said attackers targeting the cathedral zoomed up on a motorbike, and“threw a crude bomb inside the school campus and fled”.

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Speaking to AFP on November 9, a churchgoer said there was an“eerie feeling” within the community.“Anxiety grips many of us while going to church,” the 25-year-old university graduate said, asking to remain anonymous.

Nirmal Rozario, president of the Bangladesh Christian Association, said that the crude bomb exploded in front of St Mary's Cathedral, but that around 500 people came the next day to worship.

Brother Chandan Benedict Gomes, school principal at St Jospeh's, said that the attack had caused“anxiety” but that“classes were held as usual.”

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Bangladesh has been in political turmoil since a deadly uprising toppled Sheikh Hasina 's autocratic government over a year ago, as per the report. The recent attacks on Christian sites add to tensions as parties gear up for elections slated for February 2026, as per the report.

Interim leader Muhammad Yunus, the 85-year-old Nobel Peace Prize winner serving as chief adviser, has repeatedly promised that the first elections since the uprising will be held in February as planned, despite violent incidents.

On November 5 major parties opened their campaigns, which turned violent almost immediately, with a shooting at a rally for the powerful Bangladesh National Party.

Bangladesh police this month also offered cash rewards for the surrender of more than 1,300 machine guns, rifles and pistols looted during last year's uprising.

(With inputs from AFP)

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