Foreign Secretary Masud Bin Momen and envoys of India, the United States, Japan and Italy paid tribute to the victims of July 1, 2016 terror attack at Holey Artisan Bakery, reports UNB.
The 8th anniversary of the Holey Artisan Bakery attack, the deadliest terror incident in the country’s history that saw 22 people killed, is being commemorated on Monday.
Diplomats including Ambassador of Italy Antonio Alessandro, US Ambassador to Bangladesh Peter Haas, Indian High Commissioner to Bangladesh Pranay Verma and Japanese Ambassador to Bangladesh Iwama Kiminori paid tribute to the victims of Holey Artisan attack through the deposition of floral wreaths on Monday morning.
They also paid tribute to the victims of the attack at Diplomatic Police Headquarters. Tribute was paid by the DMP Commissioner too.
Director General for Italian Citizens abroad of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation Luigi Vignali, representing the Italian government, attended the ceremony.
The international community commends Bangladesh’s efforts to bring those responsible to justice and recommitted to their strong partnership to prevent future attacks.
Representatives of the families of the victims and victims’ friends from the expatriate community in Dhaka were also present.
The majority of the victims were foreigners residing in or visiting the capital’s diplomatic quarter in Gulshan-Baridhara.
The threats of violent extremism in Bangladesh has “subsided significantly” since the Holey Artisan bakery attack in 2016 due to the “whole of society” approach of the government to prevent violent extremism (PVE).
The ambassador of Italy to Bangladesh praised Bangladesh’s accomplishments in particular the community based approach to PVE.
In an event last month, he said that Bangladesh drew lessons from the Holey Artisan Bakery attack and aptly translated them into action.
Bd-pratidin English/Tanvir Raihan
