Embassies on terror alert and international schools shut after ‘Islamic State attack’ in Bangladesh

International schools closed down in Bangladesh on Tuesday and Western embassies restricted their diplomats’ movements after an Italian aid worker was shot dead in an attack claimed by the Islamic State group.

Home Minister Asaduzzaman Khan sought to calm escalating security fears in the country, denying the jihadist group was behind the murder on Monday night and describing it as an “isolated incident”.

“We have only heard about IS in Bangladesh but we haven’t found any of them,” Khan said.

Cesare Tavella was shot three times on Monday night by attackers who fled on a motorcycle. No arrests have been made.

IS claimed “a security detachment” tracked and killed the 50-year-old with “silenced weapons” in Dhaka’s Gulshan district. If the claim is verified, it would be the group’s first attack inside Bangladesh.

The minister tried to reassure those living in the capital’s diplomatic quarter, saying security was sufficient. “There is nothing to worry about,” he said.

But in an updated advisory on Tuesday, the British Foreign Office warned its officials against attending gatherings of Westerners in Bangladesh, saying there was “reliable information” that militants might be planning to target Western interests.