The attacker has a Japanese citizenship, sources said, adding he belonged to terror group Ansar al Islam and is now in custody.

A lone wolf terror attack was carried out in the diplomatic zone of Bangladesh capital Dhaka this week, weeks after the Taliban captured power in Kabul.

This was the first instance of a terror strike in South Asia outside Afghanistan since the Taliban takeover.

A Bangladeshi national carried out an attack near the Thai Embassy in Dhaka's posh diplomatic zone, ET has learnt. The perpetrator is being quizzed by the anti-terror unit of Bangladesh police to unearth a bigger plot, Dhaka-based sources told ET.

Last Thursday the lone wolf attacker Delawar targeted a micro bus belonging to American International University of Bangladesh near the Thai embassy injuring a few. The attacker has a Japanese citizenship, sources said, adding he belonged to terror group Ansar al Islam and is now in custody.

Ansar Al Islam also referred to as AAI is a Sunni Muslim insurgent group in Iraq and Syria. It was established in northern Iraq by former al-Qaeda members in 2001 as a Salafi Islamist movement that imposed a strict application of Sharia.

Last month, Bangladesh PM Sheikh Hasina warned radicals against attempts to encourage the Taliban ideology in the country, decrying sustained moves by pro-Pak forces to create instability.

Hasina had appealed to citizens to remain vigilant against radical ideas. “During the erstwhile BNP rule, slogans like ‘we are all Taliban and Bangla will become Afghan’ were gaining traction. The current government has countered this ideology by emphasising on the founding principles of the creation of Bangladesh,” she said during a recent interview to the state-run Bangladesh Television.