Bangladesh: Italian priest seriously injured in shooting

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Fr Piero Arolari, an Italian missionary priest, serving in northern Bangladesh was shot and seriously injured in northern Bangladesh on Wednesday morning as he cycled to church.

Gunmen on motorbikes are reported to have carried out the attack in the city of Dinajpur. A police spokesman said the priest was shot several times at close range.

Local media report that as he fell to the ground, local residents rushed to his rescue and took him to the hospital. A hospital spokesman said his condition was serious but stable.

Bangladesh has been rocked by a series of attacks this year claimed by Islamic extremists, including the killings of bloggers, a publisher of secular books and of two foreigners, an Italian aid worker and a Japanese agricultural worker.

Local media report that Fr Piero had been working as a doctor at a Catholic mission in Dinajpur for over 30 years.