Army para-commandos, SWAT, police wait for final assault at Sylhet ‘militant den’

The stand-off between the suspected Islamic militants and the security forces in Sylhet is now more than 24-hour old, and the indications are there that an all-out assault on the hideout is imminent.

The day has passed in tension and anxiety as the militants holed up inside a house at Shibbarhi in Sylhet's South Surma encircled by a huge contingent of security forces.

Sylhet Metropolitan Police and members of the police's counterterrorism unit have cordoned off a complex housing two buildings -- one is five-storied, and the other has four storeys -- since 3am Friday.

SWAT personnel from Dhaka joined them in the afternoon. A team of army para-commandos also arrived the scene later in the night.

Counterterrorism and Transnational Crime (CTTC) unit chief Monirul Islam reached the spot after Friday midnight, joining the officers of various forces who are planning the final assault.

The two buildings owned by a businessman have 30 flats with as many families. Police said the militants ‘denned’ at a flat on the ground floor of one of the buildings.

The other families living in the buildings appear to be stranded in the standoff for more than 24 hours.

The bolstered activities of the law enforcers in the evening indicated the preparations for the final hours, but the siege has not ended yet as the militants refused to surrender.

Police said they suspect at least two militants -- a male and a female -- are in the flat now.

The militants did not respond to police call made through loudspeakers to surrender in the afternoon. They threw a challenge to the law enforcers instead, asking them to send SWAT.

A SWAT member told bdnews24.com that they were delaying the final assault because they believe the militants have stored strong bombs in the flat.

Lights have been placed surrounding the complex. Heavily armed members of the law-enforcing agencies have encircled the complex.

A crane and some fire trucks have also been kept near the buildings.

The last such raid was conducted in Chittagong's Sitakunda. It ended through a suicide blast killing two suspects and a child while two others were shot dead during the final assault launched early in the morning on Mar 16.

How the raid began

CTTC Additional Deputy Commissioner Abdul Mannan said the members of the unit were carrying out a search operation in Sylhet with local police after getting information that militants were taking shelter in the district.

After finding the hideout at Shibbarhi on Wednesday, police locked the flat from outside and cordoned off the complex around 3am on Friday.

Police came under an attack later in the morning. The suspects shouted 'Allahu Akbar' while hurling grenades at the law enforcers.

Police retaliated by opening fire, and the cordon was extended to the entire area, Sylhet city police Additional Commissioner Rokan Uddin said.

Stranded for a day

The residents of the vicinity found themselves apparently confined in the siege by the law enforcers when they woke up early in the morning, hearing sounds of blasts and shooting.

The streets to the complex were sealed off in the morning. The residents of some nearby buildings were evacuated, and police personnel took positions on the rooftops.

Local reporters said 17 families of the four-storied building at the complex were evacuated in the morning. They were kept at a school in the area throughout the day and asked to move to relatives' houses later in the evening.

Police, using loudhailers, advised the other families stranded in the flats of the five-storied building to keep the doors and windows shut.

Power supply to the area was cut off from the morning. The residents of the area had to pass the entire day with anxiety, panic and sufferings.