Militants killed in Dhaka raid said they were members of Islamic State, witness says

The suspected militants killed when police busted their hideout in a house in Dhaka’s Kalyanpur on Tuesday were introducing themselves as members of Middle East-based radical group Islamic State, a witness says.

A tenant, who lives in a building behind ‘Taj Manzil’, where the militants rented a flat, recalled the conversation between the ‘militants’ and police in the first hours of the operation.

The resident of the area, requesting anonymity, said, “Some youths were speaking very loudly around 1:30am. It seemed they had a loudhailer. Their words were very clear.”

“They were identifying themselves as members of Islamic State. They claimed they had waged a jihad. They also claimed there were 20 members in the flat,” he added.

Police say militants had their lair on the fifth floor of this building named `Taj Manzil' on Road No.5 in Kalyanpur. Photo: abdul mannan

A SWAT team stormed the flat on the fourth floor of the building later in the morning, killing nine. Another suspected militant was caught alive.

Most of the flats of the building have been rented to groups of youths.

Police have found arms, bombs, Jihadi books and black flags, similar to those of IS, in the flat.

Photos of the bodies, provided by police, showed the suspected militants wore black panjabi and Arabic headdress. Gulshan cafe gunmen were seen posing with similar dresses in photos released by IS.

Inspector General of Police AKM Shahidul Hoque said his force did not find any link between the dead youths and IS.

He suspects the hideout was of banned militant outfit Jama’atul Mujahideen Bangladesh (JMB).

Dhaka Metropolitan Police Commissioner Asaduzzaman Mia said the ‘militants’ killed in Kalyanpur and the Gulshan cafe attackers were JMB operatives.

Mirpur Police Station OC Bhuyian Mahbub Hossain said the ‘militants’ came down from the flat and started shooting at police, shouting ‘Allahu Akbar’ when the law enforcers surrounded the house around 12:30am.

Police, using loudhailer, urged the ‘militants’ to surrender. The SWAT team was called in as the youths did not pay heed to police call.

A resident of a building opposite to ‘Taj Manzil’ said he saw three persons dressed in black panjabi speaking to police from the veranda.

“They identified themselves as jihadists,” he said.

He also said police fired at least 10 shots in response to each of the shots fired by the ‘militants’.

A youth jumped off the veranda onto the roof top of a school adjacent to the building and tried to flee, but got injured in police firing and was caught alive.

The youth has been identified as Rakibul Hasan from Bogra.

He has claimed to be the chief of the suspected militants. He also claimed he was heading for Syria.

A security guard of an adjacent building said he heard ‘Allahu Akbar’. They were also shouting in Arabic.

He said he heard continued gunshots for an hour later in the morning.

The IGP said the ‘militants’ tried to flee the house when the SWAT team barged into the flat.

Seven of the bodies were found on the corridor of the fourth floor while the two others in the flat.

They have not been identified yet.

DMP chief Mia said the ‘militants’ aged from 20 to 24 appeared educated.

Seven identity cards of two universities have been found in the flat. “We are checking their validity,” he added.