Australia has withdrawn from the Under-19 World Cup Cricket Tournament in Bangladesh later this month citing security reasons. The decision was announced by Cricket Australia CEO James Sutherland who said the decision was taken after monitoring the security situation in Bangladesh. Cricket Australia had earlier in October last year cancelled a Test tour of Bangladesh for similar reasons. The decision seems to be influenced by a series of militant violent attacks in the country since September last year, including the shooting of three foreigners, two of whom died. Bangladesh Cricket Board President Nazmul Hasan however said the decision was unfortunate and international games cannot be stopped on the basis of one or two incidents. The ICC said preparations for the tournament scheduled from January 22 to Feb 14 are continuing with Ireland having replaced Australia.