Security raids kill 11 suspected militants in Bangladesh

Dhaka, Oct 8: Eleven suspected Islamist militants were killed in two separate raids by the forces on their hideouts here today.

The militants were killed after elite anti-crime Rapid Action Battalion (RAB) acted on a tip-off and conducted near-simultaneous raids in Gazipur and central Tangail district.

"Four members of the neo-JMB (Jamaatul Mujaheedin Bangladesh) were killed in two separate encounters in (suburban) Gazipur and Tangail," RAB spokesman Commander Mufti Mahmud Khan told reporters.

His comments came as police said a third raid was underway with their counter-terrorism unit laying a siege on a militant hideout at another location in Gazipur.

"We will brief you the details of the outcome (of the raid) later," a police spokesman in Dhaka said.

TV reports quoting another official said the special unit raided a house on a tip off that Neo-JMB's Dhaka region commander 'Akash' was hiding there.

Neo-JMB is said to be ideologically linked to the ISIS which had claimed responsibility of the attack on Dhaka's Holey Artisan restaurant on July 1 in which nine Italians, seven Japanese, an American, an Indian and five Bangladeshis, including two police officers, were killed.

PTI