Four suspected militants, including a female one, were killed during a special joint forces raid on a militant hideout at Premtala in Sitakunda upazila of Chittagong on Thursday morning, ending an overnight standoff.
The identities of the deceased could not be known immediately.
A special team of the Counter Terrorism and Transnational Crime (CTTC) unit Rapid Action Battalion (Rab) and district police of Chittagong launched the special operation codenamed ‘Assault 16’ around 6am, said police.
After the operation, four bodies were recovered from the militant den, said Deputy Inspector General (Chittagong range) Shafiqul Islam.
Of them, two were killed in gunfight with the law enforcers while the rest in suicide bomb blast, he said.
Two members of the Special Weapon and Tactics Team (SWAT) were also injured during the gunfight. They were taken to Combined Military Hospital, Chittagong.
The special team also rescued 20 people of several families,who got trapped in the house, during the drive.
Inspector General of Police (IGP) AKM Shahidul Hoque said the law enforcers came to know about more militant dens in Sitakunda from Hasan and Jasim – two militants arrested in Chandina upazila of Comilla.
Following their information, a team of Sitakunda police raided a house at Madhyam Mahadebpur village in Sitakunda on Wednesday afternoon, said Mahabubur Rahman, assistant superintendent of police (Mirsarai circle).
The law enforcers arrested an alleged militant couple –Jashim and his wife Arjina – along with their two-month-old baby from the house and recovered a number of grenades, bombs and firearms from the house.
Following information gleaned from the couple, the same team raided the militant den at Premtala on Wednesday afternoon.
When police tried to enter the house, suspected militants hurled hand grenades at them, leaving two policemen, including officer-in-charge of Sitakunda Police Station Mozammel, injured.
Later, a joint team of SWAT and district police made another attempt around 8pm to enter the house. However, the militants charged hand grenades again.
Finally, the special CTTC team ended the standoff through the final assault early Thursday.
The IGP said before launching the operation, the law enforcers asked the militants to surrender but they responded to the call hurling grenades at them. –Dhaka, Mar 16 (UNB)
