1 hour ago The Rapid Action Battalion launched the raid on an abandoned house at
Gazipur. DHAKA (AFP) - Two suspected followers of a banned Bangladeshi militant
outfit were killed Monday in an explosion outside the capital Dhaka as security
forces raided a third extremist hideout in four days. The Rapid Action Battalion
launched the raid on an abandoned house at Gazipur, 40 kilometres (25 miles)
north of Dhaka, just after midnight, said a spokesman for the elite police unit.
Suspected members of Jamayetul Mujahideen Bangladesh (JMB) hurled bombs towards
the raiding party before an explosion in the building. Two bodies were later
recovered. "We opened fire at them after a law enforcer was injured as the JMB
militants hurled an IED (improvised explosive device) at our officers when we
surrounded the house," said RAB spokesman Major Rumman Mahmud. "After we shot
several rounds of bullets we heard an explosion inside the den. Later we found
two bodies lying on the floor," he told AFP. Unexploded IEDs, grenades, a
pistol, bullets and JMB propaganda leaflets were found at the premises. It was
the third raid on a suspected militant hideout in four days as security forces
intensify a hunt for extremists following a series of deadly attacks on
foreigners as well as an attack at a mosque at a naval base. The raid came hours
after three alleged JMB militants were arrested in the port city of Chittagong.
Police found a modern assault rifle, a huge cache of bullets, bombmaking
equipment and army uniforms during the operation. "The worst part of our concern
is they have local military fatigues, which makes it harder for the police to
monitor their movement," Chittagong Metropolitan Police Commissioner Abdul Jalil
Mandal told AFP. Last Thursday police raided a multi-storey building in Dhaka s
Mirpur suburb and arrested seven suspected JMB men after a 15-hour operation.
Police said they recovered hand grenades and suicide bombers vests. The
high-profile raids and arrests have raised fears Islamist militants have
regrouped a decade after they carried out a series of bombings. The nationwide
blasts coincided with the launch of a campaign to introduce Sharia law in the
Muslim-majority but officially secular nation. In recent months a string of
attacks and murders of foreigners, secular bloggers, publishers, Sufi leaders,
Shias and Ahmadi Muslims were claimed by the Islamic State group. The government
has denied that IS has a presence in Bangladesh while police blame homegrown
militant group JMB for the recent violence.
DHAKA (AFP) - Two suspected followers of a banned Bangladeshi
militant outfit were killed Monday in an explosion outside the capital Dhaka as
security forces raided a third extremist hideout in four days. The Rapid Action
Battalion launched the raid on an abandoned house at Gazipur, 40 kilometres (25
miles) north of Dhaka, just after midnight, said a spokesman for the elite
police unit. Suspected members of Jamayetul Mujahideen Bangladesh (JMB) hurled
bombs towards the raiding party before an explosion in the building. Two bodies
were later recovered. "We opened fire at them after a law enforcer was injured
as the JMB militants hurled an IED (improvised explosive device) at our officers
when we surrounded the house," said RAB spokesman Major Rumman Mahmud. "After we
shot several rounds of bullets we heard an explosion inside the den. Later we
found two bodies lying on the floor," he told AFP. Unexploded IEDs, grenades, a
pistol, bullets and JMB propaganda leaflets were found at the premises. It was
the third raid on a suspected militant hideout in four days as security forces
intensify a hunt for extremists following a series of deadly attacks on
foreigners as well as an attack at a mosque at a naval base. The raid came hours
after three alleged JMB militants were arrested in the port city of Chittagong.
Police found a modern assault rifle, a huge cache of bullets, bombmaking
equipment and army uniforms during the operation. "The worst part of our concern
is they have local military fatigues, which makes it harder for the police to
monitor their movement," Chittagong Metropolitan Police Commissioner Abdul Jalil
Mandal told AFP. Last Thursday police raided a multi-storey building in Dhaka s
Mirpur suburb and arrested seven suspected JMB men after a 15-hour operation.
Police said they recovered hand grenades and suicide bombers vests. The
high-profile raids and arrests have raised fears Islamist militants have
regrouped a decade after they carried out a series of bombings. The nationwide
blasts coincided with the launch of a campaign to introduce Sharia law in the
Muslim-majority but officially secular nation. In recent months a string of
attacks and murders of foreigners, secular bloggers, publishers, Sufi leaders,
Shias and Ahmadi Muslims were claimed by the Islamic State group. The government
has denied that IS has a presence in Bangladesh while police blame homegrown
militant group JMB for the recent violence.
