Burst of gunfire heard as Sylhet militant hideout siege enters fourth day

The siege of a militant hideout in the northeastern Bangladesh district of Sylhet has entered the fourth day.

Sylhet Correspondentbdnews24.com
Published : 27 March 2017, 05:18 AM
Updated : 28 March 2017, 08:02 AM

Army commandos are continuing the operation to neutralise the militants holed up inside an apartment building at Shibbari on the outskirts of Sylhet city.

After a relative lull since Sunday afternoon, sporadic gunfire and explosions could be heard after midnight from the building.

Locals said they could hear burst of automatic weapons and explosions once again after 6am on Monday.

On Sunday, a Bangladesh Army spokesperson said that at least two militants have been killed inside the building.

"There are several more well-trained operatives active inside the hideout," Brig Gen Fakhrul Ahsan told a media briefing in Sylhet.

He said that the assault was far from over and pointed to 'considerable risks' involved in it.

The army briefing took place in a location not far from the scene of the siege, where soldiers from the para-commando battalion are conducting 'Operation Twilight'.

Early on Friday, Sylhet police and personnel from police's counterterrorism unit cordoned off a housing complex at Shibbarhi neighbourhood in South Surma Upazila.

Army commandos took charge of the operation from the police on Saturday morning and began the assault on the complex housing a five-storey and a four-storey building.

The two buildings have 30 flats with as many families living in them.

Seventy-eight people trapped inside the building complex were evacuated amid much firing.

While that went on, two blasts within a kilometre of the buildings, killed six people, including two police officers.

The army have taken control of a 3-kilometre area after the twin explosions in the neighbourhood. Vehicles are not allowed to move in the area as well as pedestrian movement is restricted.

The building's owner, Ustar Ali, earlier said a couple, Kauser Ali and Morjina Begum, rented a lower-storey flat, three months ago.

The army said the dead militants were male and there was still no confirmation about female operatives inside.

On Friday, the unidentified suspects were heard defying police making announcements through loud speakers.  As police asked them to surrender, a male was heard saying, "Why are you wasting time? … send in the SWAT!"

On Sunday, Home Minister Asaduzzaman Khan Kamal hinted at the possibility that a 'militant leader', maybe holed up inside the Sylhet hideout.

The army said that the terrorists are ‘armed with small arms, explosives and suicide vests’ and have planted Improvised Explosive Devices (IEDs) all over the buildings.

“They are well-trained and have lobbed back the grenades we threw at them. They also took care of our tear gas shells by building fires,” Brig Gen Ahsan told the media in Sylhet on Sunday.