August 21 Grenade Attack

Collected After the grenade attack, the dismembered bodies of many people were lying on the road like this, Sheikh Hasina was shocked by the incident inset.

Bangladesh to observe 18th anniversary of August 21 grenade attack tomorrow

Awami League president Sheikh Hasina was the victim of a terrorist attack when she came to protest against terrorism in the street in front of the central office on Bangabandhu Avenue. In that incident, party leaders and activists protected Sheikh Hasina by forming human shields, but a total of 24 leaders and activists, including Awami League's women affairs secretary and wife of late president Zillur Rahman, Ivy Rahman, lost their lives due to the grenade attack. The attack was carried out with the direct support of the then ruling BNP coalition government.

Tomorrow, on the 18th anniversary of this heinous grenade attack in history, the Bengali nation will remember the victims of the attack with respect. Various political, social and cultural organizations including Awami League have undertaken programs to observe the day.

At that time, BNP-Jamaat-led four-party coalition government was in power. On that day, the then opposition party Awami League organized a peace rally 'against terrorism, militancy and corruption'.

Today's Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina was the chief guest. A grenade attack started targeting him shortly after he finished speaking at a makeshift truck platform set up on Bangabandhu Avenue ahead of an anti-terror peace rally. Grenades began to explode one after another with a loud sound. Before realizing anything, the assembly ground turned into a heap of blood and flesh in an instant due to the horror of 13 grenade explosions. Bangabandhu Avenue turned into a death pit. With the impact of the splinter, various parts of the people including the hands and feet were scattered around. Bloody frozen bodies can be seen scattered around the conference truck. Dead bodies and blood floated down the sloping road in front of Bangabandhu Avenue.

On that day, every hospital in the capital did not have a place to hold the injured. Sheikh Hasina miraculously survived the infernal grenade attack. Seeing that Sheikh Hasina, the main target of the assassins, had survived, 12 rounds were fired at her car. However, the targeted bullets could not penetrate the bulletproof vehicle carrying Bangabandhu's daughter. Immediately after the attack, Sheikh Hasina was cordoned off in a car and taken to her then residence Sudha Sadan in Dhanmondi. In the bloody incident on August 21, 16 people were killed on the spot. Later, the total number of victims stood at 24.