Militants sentenced in Bangladesh

Jamaat-ul-Mujahideen are blamed for a series of attacks

Ten militants have been sentenced to life imprisonment in Bangladesh for their involvement in a series of co-ordinated bomb attacks last August.

Another three militants were jailed for 20 years over the seven bombings in the northern town of Joypurhat.

The militants are members of the banned Jamaat-ul-Mujahideen group, which has campaigned for Islamic law to be introduced in Bangladesh.

Bomb attacks blamed on the group left 28 people dead last year.

Four suicide bombers were among those killed.

The militants sentenced on Sunday are accused of organising a series of blasts on 17 August - a day on which more than 400 bombs were detonated across Bangladesh, killing three people.

In February, 21 members of Jamaat-ul-Mujahideen were sentenced to death for attacks in the western district of Jhenidah.

The group's alleged leader, Sheikh Abdur Rahman, and the man accused of being his deputy, Siddiqul Islam, known as Bangla Bhai, were arrested in March.

They face trial in more than 100 cases in connection with the bombings.