Father Parolari Piero, 64 of PIME missions was shot by assailants in northern Bangladesh on Nov 18, when he was on his way to the hospital where he was serving as a doctor.

The three assailants were on a motorbike when they attacked Fr. Parolari in the town of Dinajpur and fled after the attack leaving him in a critical condition. The 57-year-old priest, who is a doctor at St. Vincent hospital, was hit in the neck by a bullet.

He was immediately shifted to the hospital where he underwent an emergency operation. The doctors then decided to move him to Dhaka by helicopter, Vatican Radio reported.

Local police said they were not sure about the identity of the attackers, but people are certain that they are radical Muslims. In recent days, several Protestant pastors in Dhaka have received death threats from Islamic extremists.

The Bishop of Dinajpur, Msgr. Sebastian Tudu, told police that “it is unacceptable that our people become such easy targets. We need greater security measures”.

Bangladesh has been rocked by a series of attacks this year claimed by Islamic extremists, including the killings of bloggers and, more recently, of two foreigners, an Italian aid worker and a Japanese agricultural worker.

An Oct. 24 bomb attack on thousands of Shiite Muslims in Dhaka killed a teenage boy and injured more than 100 others.

The Islamic State group claimed responsibility for the two earlier attacks on foreigners, but the government said the extremist Sunni militant group does not have a presence in the country.