Two suspected militants dead in Bangladesh hideout blast

Two suspected followers of a banned Bangladeshi militant outfit were killed on Monday in an explosion outside Dhaka as security forces raided a third extremist hideout in four days.

Two suspected followers of a banned Bangladeshi militant outfit were killed on Monday in an explosion outside Dhaka as security forces raided a third extremist hideout in four days.

Bangladeshi police officials secure the area during a raid on a building where members of a banned Islamist group were detained. Two suspected militants were killed in an explosion outside the capital of Dhaka after security forces continued to conduct raids against extremist hideouts. (AP Photo)

The Rapid Action Battalion launched the raid on an abandoned house at Gazipur, 40 km north of Dhaka, just after midnight, said a spokesman for the elite police unit.

Suspected members of Jamaatul Mujahideen Bangladesh (JMB) hurled bombs towards the raiding party before an explosion in the building. Two bodies were later recovered.

“We opened fire at them after a law enforcer was injured as the JMB militants hurled an IED (improvised explosive device) at our officers when we surrounded the house,” said RAB spokesman Major Rumman Mahmud.

“After we shot several rounds of bullets we heard an explosion inside the den. Later we found two bodies lying on the floor,” he said.

Unexploded IEDs, grenades, a pistol, bullets and JMB propaganda leaflets were found at the premises.

It was the third raid on a suspected militant hideout in four days as security forces intensify a hunt for extremists following a series of deadly attacks on foreigners as well as an attack at a mosque at a naval base.