At least 7 militants found dead inside Moulvibazar hideout

Seven to eight suspected militants were found dead during a raid on a house in the northeastern district of Moulvibazar, says the counter-terrorism unit chief.

Body parts of men and women were found scattered inside the terror den, Monirul Islam said at a media briefing after security forces ended the raid in the Nasirpur neighbourhood on Thursday.

The suspects, who died in suicide blasts, were members of the revived Jama’atul Islam Mujahideen, he said.

 

Another hideout at Barahat, which is 18km away from Nasirpur, was still under a police cordon, according to Islam. An operation will be launched after further planning.

Police found improvised explosive devices (IED) planted in multiple locations while entering the tin-roofed one-storey house in Nasirpur with a garden around it.

“We were able to enter the house after removing the bombs. We saw the gory scene inside. Body parts were scattered everywhere.”

‪The mutilated bodies suggested that they were killed in ‘powerful explosions’, he said.

‪The blasts might have taken place at the start of the operation on Wednesday because the bodies were giving off putrid stench, said the counter-terrorism chief.

“We are assuming that they blew themselves up together after realising there was no escape when SWAT surrounded them on Wednesday morning.”

“The bodies were scattered across two rooms, with their heads and limbs everywhere,” he said.

Security forces put the body parts together to arrive at the number of the militants killed in the explosions, according to Islam.

The houses in Nasirpur and Barahat are both owned by an expatriate Bangladeshi living in London. The raids there followed operations in two houses at Sitakunda and a building in Sylhet.

The ‘Operation Hit Back’ in Nasirpur began around 6pm Wednesday after a SWAT team from Dhaka reached the location.