Five Islamist militants, including a woman, were killed on Thursday when security forces stormed their hideouts in Bangladesh amid an intensified nationwide crackdown on extremists in the Muslim-majority country that has witnessed a spate of terror attacks.
“So far, we have found four bodies. Two of them were wearing suicide vests and died in the blast and two others died when hit by police bullets,” police’s Chittagong Range Deputy Inspector General (DIG) Shafiqul Islam told reporters.
The officer said three policemen have been injured after grenades were lobbed from inside.
The killed militants include a woman, police said. The operation ‘Assault 16’ was jointly carried out by Counter Terrorism and Transnational Crime unit, Special Weapon and Tactic Team (SWAT), Rapid Action Battalion and Chittagong police in Sitakunda, about 264 kms south-east of Dhaka.
The four extremists, believed to be operatives of banned Neo-Jamaatul Mujahideen Bangladesh (JMB), hurled grenades and fired gunshots on security forces.
Meanwhile, media reports said that another militant, a member of the banned outfit Harkat-ul Jihad al Islam, was killed in a separate raid. The encounter began after a night-long police siege to the hideout of the neo-JMB.