250-kg live bomb from 1971 war found buried near Dhaka airport

DHAKA: A 250-kg live bomb has been found buried at a construction site at the international airport here with experts speculating that the cylinder-like bomb was dropped sometime during Bangladesh's Liberation War against Pakistan in 1971.

Construction workers detected the bomb on Wednesday during their excavation works for an extended terminal of Dhaka's Hazrat Shahjalal International Airport (HISA), airport officials said.

On information, the bomb disposal unit of the Air Force's Bangabandhu Base rushed to the spot and defused the 250-kg bomb, the Defence Ministry said in a statement.

Later, the bomb, which army experts called a "live bomb" having explosives inside, was taken to Rasulpur Firing Range in Paharkanchanpur with necessary precautions for its safe and guided explosion.

"It has been identified to be a 'general purpose' bomb which is dropped from the air to inflict damage on enemy troops, vehicles, and buildings," a military bomb expert said.

Bomb experts believe that the bomb was dropped sometime during the Liberation War in 1971.