Police in Bangladesh killed three suspected militants Saturday, including a man they identified as a Canadian accused of masterminding a deadly attack on a cafe in Dhaka last month.
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On July 1 evening, a group of Islamist militants killed 22 people, including 18 foreigners at the Holey Artisan Bakery Cafe in Dhaka. But as Syed Zain al-Mahmood of The Wall Street Journal told Weekend Edition Saturday, this attack was particularly shocking because it “was something that’s new to Bangladesh – an armed group storming a very popular café and taking hostages”. The following attack, on July 7, led to the death of two citizens and two police officers.
They said the suspects were killed in a raid this morning on a house near the Bangladeshi capital.
Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina has said the police operation would uphold confidence and the image of her country, and came ahead of U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry’s visit to Dhaka on Monday.
Global Affairs Canada has said Canadian officials are monitoring Khan’s situation. The men also set off explosions to destroy their computers and other evidence, said Sanwar Hossain, a senior police officer. “Among them, one of the dead persons looked exactly like the photo of Tamim Chowdhury that we have”, Hoque said.
The Islamic State group had claimed responsibility for the restaurant attack, but authorities have denied that all along, saying it was the act of the JMB and that ISIL has no presence in the Muslim-majority country. Analysts said Chowdhury and two other Bangladeshi expatriates on that list could have been acting as links between local and worldwide extremist groups. “When we felt that they would not surrender, we made our final push and killed them”.
Chowdhury’s name was on a list of 10 high-value suspects released by Bangladeshi authorities last month after the Holey Artisan Bakery attack, an 11-hour siege carried out by a handful of militants who were eventually killed by soldiers.
Khan was taken into custody for questioning immediately after the attack, and police formally announced his arrest at the beginning of August. After the operation, police entered the house and found three bodies, the police said.
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Earlier on July 26, nine militants were killed during a special drive of the joint forces in Dhaka’s Kalyanpur, ending an overnight standoff that ensued with a raid to hunt down “militant den”.
