In suicide explosion 7/8 ‘militants’ kill themselves: Police

Lastnewsbd, 30^th March, Dhaka: Briefing newsmen, Monirul said the counter terrorism unit started working in Fatehpur (Nasirnagar) of Moulvibazar as a sequel to the two explosions during Atia Mahal operation in Sylhet. “A counter terrorism unit in collaboration with Moulvibazar police spotted a militants’ hideout in Fatehpur on Tuesday and later they kept it surrounded.” Monirul said the law enforcement asked the alleged militants to surrender before the start of the operation, using a PA system and megaphone, but the “militants” didn’t respond. “A huge explosion took place at the time, smashing the doors and windows of the house. Later, the counter terrorism unit began the drive, but the team suspended the drive as night descended,” said Monirul. He said due to inclement weather on Thursday morning, the law enforcers had to delay to resume the drive today. The chief of the counter terrorism unit claimed that the alleged militants had laid Improvised Explosive Devices (IED) at the entrance of the house as well as at “strategic points” in and around the building. “The law enforcers had to enter the house after neutralising the explosives and found body parts scattered here and there. “It was a ghastly scenario. The body parts had started decomposing. Our assumption is that the entire family killed themselves by detonating bombs finding, no way to escape when the SWAT team launched the operation on Wednesday,” said Monirul. He said, “No dead body remained intact. All of the bodies were torn apart and the floors of the house were strewn with heads, legs, hands or other parts of the human bodies. “We assume that there were parts of bodies of seven to eight people. Our crime scene unit is working to find the exact number of the people killed,” he added. He said there might have one or two children among those killed in the den.

At a press conference in Moulvibazar, the chief of Counter Terrorism and Transnational Crime (CTTC) unit of police, Monirul Islam, said they have called off the operation ‘Hit-back’. He said women and children were among those killed in the “suicide explosion”. The police on Thursday claimed that some seven to eight alleged militants killed themselves by detonating bombs on Wednesday afternoon when SWAT launched the operation in Fatehpur (Nasirpur) of Moulvibazar. They said the bodies were torn apart in a strong explosion and they found the floor of the house strewn with body parts when they entered the house today, Thursday.

Monirul said the suicide tactic was nothing new. “Whenever they find no other way to escape, they kill themselves.” Monirul said a total of 12 explosions took place since the law enforcement launched the operation from Wednesday afternoon. He said they were killed in the explosion which took place on Wednesday afternoon when the SWAT launched the operation. Monirul said the law enforcement has still kept another Moulvibazar “militant den” under siege. “The SWAT will decide when the operation will be launched at that den.” Asked who they were, Monirul said, “As we’ve spotted the den following a clue, we are almost confirmed that they were members of neo-JMB.” Asked whether those who were killed in the den are the members of a same family, he said they had prior information that a father-in-law, a son-in-law and other family members were hiding there. He, however, said they were not fully certain about it.

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