Militant killed in suicide blast in Bangladesh

Dhaka, August 15

A 20-year-old militant of the banned Neo-JMB terror outfit responsible for carrying out Bangladesh’s worst terror attack was on Tuesday killed after he detonated explosives in his hotel room to escape a police raid.

The Neo-Jamayetul Mujahideen Bangladesh militant, who has not been identified, killed himself right before a raid by police counterterrorism unit and SWAT on a hotel in Dhaka’s Panthapath, Inspector General of Police Shahidul Hoque was quoted as saying by Dhaka Tribune.

The militant had planned to attack processions to Bangabandhu Memorial Museum on the National Mourning Day, police said.

The police have also found leaflets containing militancy propaganda among the deceased’s belongings, the report said.

The incident came as Bangladesh marked an annual national day of mourning to commemorate the assassination of the nation’s founding leader Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, in a military coup in 1975. Rahman was Prime minister Sheikh Hasina’s father.

The raid was part of an intensified crackdown on militants following the last year’s Dhaka cafe attack in which 22 people, mostly foreigners and an Indian girl, were killed. PTI