Is the Islamic State on the Move in Bangladesh?

It seems Islamic State continues to expand its international reach by inspiring new offshoots as the murders of two foreigners in less than a week in Bangladesh show the group may have found support in the South Asian nation.

Gunmen affiliated with the group wreaking havoc in Iraq and Syria killed an Italian aid worker in the capital earlier in the week, and today, unidentified gunman whose affiliation is unknown killed a Japanese man working in the north of Bangladesh, according to The New York Times.

The victim, a 66-year-old man named Hoshi Kunio was shot three times as he rode a rickshaw to small plot of land he has been working. The two gunmen had covered their faces and then run to a waiting motorcycle which whisked them away from the crime scene.

The killings suggest a radicalization of Islamist thought in Bangladesh. At least four atheist and secularist bloggers have been murdered by radical Islamists in the past year. In all the attacks, the victims were hacked to death with machetes and cleavers. The regional head of Al Qaeda claimed to be behind some of the killings.

As a result of the violence, Western groups and citizens have been urged to take precautions. Australia's cricket team postponed a trip it was to take to Bangladesh over security concerns, while the British government warned its employees in the country to limit their presence at locations where they may be large gatherings of people from Western nations.

The Italian aid worker killed earlier in the week was 50-year-old Cesar Tavella, who worked for a non-governmental organization that tried to fight poverty.