Dhaka : At least two civilians were killed and 28 injured on Saturday when Islamist militants hurled explosive device on people after army commandos stormed their hideout in Bangladesh’s north-eastern Sylhet following a nearly 30-hour security siege.
“Two civilians are killed and 28 people including two inspectors of bomb disposal unit sustained injuries in the blast,” Golam Kibria, commissioner of Sylhet Metropolitan Police, was quoted as saying by The Daily Star.
The blast took place at 6.50 pm (local time) on a road, around 400 metres off the five-storey building, after the army commandos backed by police and SWAT launched ‘Operation Twilight’ to flush the militants out of the building.
Army and fire service ambulances rushed to the scene to take the injured onlookers to nearby facilities.
The attack came shortly after an army spokesman hinted that military commandos were set for their final assault on extremists who were holed up in the building. On a tip off, police had raided the building at 2 am on Friday and cordoned off the whole area after suspected militants detonated small bombs.
Counter-Terrorism and Transnational Crime (CTTC) chief Monirul Islam said they got information that JMB chief Musa along with some other JMB militants are in Sylhet.
The neo-JMB, said to be inclined to the Islamic State, was behind the July 1 terror attack on a Dhaka cafe in which 22 people, including 17 foreigners, were killed.
Brigadier-General Fakhrul Ahsan said that they were not sure about the number of militants inside the building who so far exploded 12 bombs.
“It is the commander of the operation, who will decide how it will be conducted or when it could end,” Ahsan told reporters at the scene, responding to a question on when the ‘Operation Twilight’ could be wrapped up.
GOC (General Officer Commanding) of Sylhet-based 17 Infantry Division Major General Anwarul Momen is leading the ‘Operation Twilight’ which was launched at 9am on Saturday. “Seventy eight residents of the building have been evacuated but the operation is underway as militants are still inside the building,” Ahsan said.
He said contrary to what was thought the Islamists were staying only on the ground floor, it now appeared they took position in different parts of the building planting Improvised Explosive Devices (IEDs) as traps.
TV channels were barred from live broadcast of the operation but their footages showed commandos backed by the armoured personnel carriers taking positions around the building. PTI
