Bangladesh police kill 11 militants in shootout

Dhaka, Aug 17: Bangladeshi police shot dead 11 militants in an exchange of fire in the country's northern Pabna district today, police said.

Police intercepted about 100 militants holding a meeting at a hideout, a police official said.

The police opened fire and killed 11 members of the group.

Another 50 were detained, the official said.

About 50 people, including policemen, were injured in the gunfight. No further details were immediately available.

The militants belonged to a group active in northern Bangladesh who say they seek to help the poor. Officials said the militants were not connected to banned Islamist groups believed to be responsible for a spate of bomb attacks last year.

On August 17, 2005, Islamist militants exploded some 500 small bombs across the country almost simultaneously, killing two people and wounding many others.

No one claimed responsibility for the blasts, but copies of a leaflet found at most of the bomb sites carried a call by a banned Islamic group, Jamaat-ul-Mujahideen, for Islamic rule in Bangladesh, a mainly Muslim democracy.

The militants continued their deadly campaign until end of the year. At least 30 people were killed and 150 wounded, including lawyers, judges, officials and police.

Authorities have said their followers might try to regroup and launch fresh attacks to try to destabilise the country ahead of a parliamentary election next January.

''We are not sitting idle and doing everything needed (to end the militancy),'' a senior police officer said today.

The militants have kept a low profile since March 2006 when their supreme commanders Shayek Abdur Rahman and Siddikul Islam Bangla Bhai were captured and later sentenced to death. The sentences have not been carried out yet.

Reuters