Nine militants killed in Bangladesh police raid; 2 arrested

TIL Desk/World/Dhaka-Nine suspected Islamist militants were today killed and two others arrested by Bangladeshi police during a pre-dawn raid at their hideout here, officials said. The hour-long raid was launched at 5:51 AM (local time) at Jahaz building in Kalyanpur area by special police units.

The militants, suspected to be members of Jamatul Mujahideen Bangladesh (JMB), had opened fire on police during an operation in the neighbourhood at midnight. “All (nine) of them appeared to be militants,” Dhaka’s joint police commissioner Sheikh Maruf Hassan said.

The Islamist gunmen wearing black tunics exchanged fire intermittently throughout the night and shouted “Allahu Akbar” (God is the Greatest). Two more presumed extremists, incuding one with bullet wounds, were arrested from the scene, he added.