Bomb carrier blows himself up near Dhaka airport
The suicide bomber attempted to attack the police box overlooking the airport intersection.
Although Islamic State has claimed responsibility for the attack, Bangladesh police doesn't view it as a terrorist attack
A man blew himself upoutside the Bangladeshi capital Dhaka's main international airport on Friday.
The man wearing jeans, in his early 20s.was carrying explosives in a trolley bag, which exploded near a police checkpoint monitoring vehicles going towardsHazrat Shahjahal International Airport.
"The bomb carrier himself was killed," a Dhaka police spokesman, Yusuf Ali, told AFP.
Dhaka Metropolitan Police Commissioner Asaduzzaman Mia told reporters downplayed the incident, saying it should not be viewed as a terrorist attack.
"The man could have attacked 8-10 law enforcers there if he wanted. But he didn't want so. So we can't say that it was an attack. We think the bomb exploded accidentally as the carrier was scared to see law enforcers on the street," he said.
SITE Intelligence Group, a jihadist threat monitoring portal, said Islamic State has claimed responsibility for the attack.
Police are yet to confirm the bomber's identity.
The suspected attack isthe third since last Friday, when a suicide bomber blew himself up at a camp for the country's elite security force near the airport.
ISalso claimed responsibility for a wave of killings starting2015, including last year's Dhaka cafe attackin which 22 people were killed.
The Bangladesh government deniesthe presence of IS in the countryandargues a new faction of homegrown extremist group Jamayetul Mujahideen Bangladesh (JMB) was behind that and other attacks.
(WION with inputs from agencies)