Bangladesh pastor survives knife attack

The incident occurred amid concern over rising Islamist violence in Bangladesh

A Bangladeshi pastor has survived an attempt to slit his throat by men who visited his home pretending to want to learn about Christianity.

The 52-year-old pastor, Luke Sarker, suffered minor injuries when three suspected militants attacked him in the north-western district of Pabna.

The pastor's wife came to his rescue and the men fled.

There is concern over rising Islamist violence in Bangladesh following killings of foreigners and bloggers.

Police arrested a member of the student wing of the Jamaat-e Islami party on Tuesday in connection with the attack.

The men attacked Mr Sarker with a knife on Monday after calling about two weeks ago saying they wanted to visit him to learn more about Christianity, he told the news agency Associated Press.

The South Asian nation is on alert after two foreigners, a Japanese agricultural worker and an Italian aid worker, were shot dead last week.

The Islamic State group claimed responsibility, although police said there was no evidence the group was behind the attacks.

The past year has also seen the hacking to death of four secularist bloggers in Bangladesh.

Mohammad Javed (L) being presented to the media on 5 October 2015 following his arrest in Chittagong.

In a separate incident on Tuesday, police in Bangladesh said a senior military leader of banned Islamist group, Jamaat-ul Mujahideen, was killed in a grenade explosion.

The 26-year-old Mohammad Javed was arrested on Monday night in possession of weapons.

Senior police official Babul Akter said Javed was killed while he was helping police recover more weapons in Chittagong.

The account could not be independently confirmed.

Jamaat-ul Mujahideen was held responsible for a series of suicide bombings in 2005.

However, they are not thought to be behind recent killings of foreigners and secularists.