Bangladeshi journalists hurt in machete office attack

DHAKA: Nine journalists were wounded when an unidentified gang wielding machetes stormed Bangladesh's most prominent online media outlet and attacked staff, police said Tuesday.

About eight young men entered the offices of bdnews24.com on Monday evening and launched the bloody assault before fleeing the scene, deputy commissioner of Dhaka police Lutful Kabir told AFP.

"Three seriously injured people were admitted to a clinic. Their condition is stable," Kabir said, adding that the motive of the attack was unknown. Photographs of the scene posted on the news website showed blood smeared across the newsroom floor.

Home Minister Sahara Khatun ordered an investigation after visiting the offices in the capital's Mohakhali area.

Bdnews24.com news editor Gazi Nasir Uddin Ahmed said he was uncertain if the attack was pre-planned. "We are shocked. We demand immediate arrest and trial of the attackers," Ahmed told AFP.