5 killed in suicide explosions in western Bangladesh

APD NEWS

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Four militants and one firefighter were killed in suicide explosions during a police raid on an alleged safe house of the terrorists in the country's Rajshahi district, some 256 km west of capital Dhaka, on Thursday morning, a police official said.

Hibjur Alam Munsi, officer-in-charge of Rajshahi's Godagari Police Station, said based on a tip-off, security forces had surrounded the house early Thursday.

"Four militants blew themselves up Thursday morning when police tried to storm the house where members of the banned Neo-JMB group were holed up," said another police official who preferred to be unnamed.

He said a firefighter was critically injured in the explosions.

The firefighter succumbed to injuries in a hospital, he added.

Two police men also sustained injuries as the suspected militants opened fire at law enforcers after they encircled the house, said the official.

According to the official, police were primarily sure that the slain militants were members of "Neo-JMB."

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, mostly foreigners.

At least two suspected militants were killed on Sunday after Bangladeshi police stormed a house in the western Jhenidah district,

Over the last few months, Bangladeshi police have conducted a series of large-scale operations against militants, in which dozens of suspected militants were killed.

(ASIA PACIFIC DAILY)