ISIS reportedly claims murder of Italian aid worker in Bangladesh

ISIS says it gunned down Italian aid worker Cesare Tavella in Bangladesh on Monday — (Image credit: Twitter/@tempoweb)

Islamic State said that a "security detachment" was responsible for the murder Monday night of Italian aid worker Cesare Tavella in Dhaka, Bangladesh, according to the SITE Intelligence Group, which monitors Islamist communications. Tavella, a veterinarian in his 50s, was gunned down by assailants on a motorcycle, but ISIS's purported claim that its gunmen used "silenced weapons" in the attack doesn't match witness reports of at lease three loud gunshots.

Police in Dhaka said they "have no idea, we can't say anything definitively for now" about the attack, and Italian Foreign Minister Paolo Gentiloni said late Monday that Italy is "working to verify" the ISIS claim. If verified, it would be the first ISIS attack in Bangladesh, a secular nation whose population is about 90 percent Muslim. According to SITE, ISIS attacked Tavella to warn "citizens of the crusader coalition" they aren't safe in Muslim nations.

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Peter has worked as a news and culture writer and editor at The Week since the site's launch in 2008. He covers politics, world affairs, religion and cultural currents. His journalism career began as a copy editor at a financial newswire and has included editorial positions at The New York Times Magazine, Facts on File, and Oregon State University.