AMN /
Four militants including a woman, were killed when security forces stormed their hideout in the port city of Chittagong in Bangladesh today. Police said, while two terrorists died in their suicide vests blast, two others were killed by police. Three policemen have also been injured after terrorists threw grenades on them.
“Two militants were killed in suicidal explosions and another two were killed in gunshots during the encounter at Sitakunda,” Chittagong police’s additional superintendent Reazaul Masud told media.
He said the encounter began after a night-long police siege to the hideout of the neo-JMB, which staged the deadly July 1, 2016 attack on a Dhaka Holey Artisan caf, killing 22 people including 17 foreigners.
Police said a joint team of counter-terrorism unit and Special Weapon and Tactic Team (SWAT) from Dhaka, Rapid Action Battalion (RAB), and Chittagong district police launched the raid titled ‘Assault -16’ at a two-storey building, Chhya Nir at Premtala area of Sitakunda at aound 6.10 am.
They said the terrorists, who visibly were living at the house in the guise of ordinary tenants, hurled grenades and powerful bombs wounding two SWAT members as police opened fire 6.24 am.
Security forces in Bangladesh have intensified nationwide crackdown on extremists following a spate of terror attacks. 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 district police in Sitakunda, about 264 kilometers south-east of Dhaka.
The extremists are believed to be operatives of banned Neo-Jamaatul Mujahideen Bangladesh (JMB). The encounter began after a night-long police siege to the hideout of the terrorists.