Wounded Bangladesh youth leader dies in Singapore hospital

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Masked attackers shot Sharif Osman Hadi, a week ago as he was leaving a mosque in the Bangladeshi capital Dhaka, wounding him in the ear.

PHOTO: AFP

SINGAPORE - A leader of Bangladesh’s 2024 uprising

who was wounded in an assassination attempt

Masked attackers shot Sharif Osman Hadi, 32, a week ago as he was leaving a mosque in the Bangladeshi capital Dhaka, wounding him in the ear.

“Despite the best efforts of the doctors..., Mr Hadi succumbed to his injuries on Dec 18,” Singapore’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MFA) said in a statement, adding that it was assisting Bangladeshi authorities with repatriating his body.

Mr Hadi was a candidate in the February 2026 elections, the first parliamentary polls since a student-led uprising toppled the autocratic rule of former prime minister Sheikh Hasina last year.

Mr Hadi was evacuated by air from Bangladesh to the Singapore General Hospital Neurosurgical Intensive Care Unit on Dec 15 to receive emergency medical treatment, Singapore’s MFA said.

In Dhaka, the interim government headed by Nobel laureate Muhammad Yunus confirmed Mr Hadi’s death.

“I express my deepest condolences. His demise is an irreparable loss for the nation,” Mr Yunus said.

“The country’s march toward democracy cannot be halted through fear, terror, or bloodshed,” he said in a televised speech.

The government also announced special prayers at mosques after Friday prayers on Dec 19 and a half-day’s mourning on Dec 20.

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