3 more militants killed in Bangladesh anti-terror raid

Dhaka April 1 (IANS) Three more bodies of militants were found on Saturday after the police in the country s northeastern region stormed the second hideout of the Neo-JMB members holed up there the police said.

The Neo-JMB an offshoot of the banned militant outfit Jamaatul Mujahideen Bangladesh was blamed for the deadly July 1 2016 attack on a Spanish cafe in Dhaka which killed 22 people.

Bangladesh s Counter-Terrorism Police Unit Chief Monirul Islam said that Operation Maximus to flash out the second militant hideout in the country s Moulvibazar district about 200 km north-east of capital Dhaka was over.

The bodies of two men and a woman were found after the law enforcers managed to enter the Neo-JMB hideout the police official said.

He said the militants were most likely killed in suicide explosions like seven other militants of another hideout of the district where law enforcers conducted Operation Hit Back on March 30 Xinhua news agency reported.

Security forces surrounded two buildings in two separate places in Moulvibazar district since early Wednesday.

After the first operation Islam said Seven bodies were found scattered at the militant den in Moulvibazar s Nasirnagar.

He said We re primarily sure the slain militants of both the hideouts are members of Neo JMB.

--IANS
soni/vm