Photo taken on August 27, 2016 shows the house where the gun battle with militants happened on the outskirts of Dhaka, Bangladesh. On Saturday, police said they had killed three suspected militants, including an alleged mastermind of the cafe attack.
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A police stands guard near the site of a gun battle with militants on the outskirts of Dhaka, Bangladesh, Aug. 27, 2016.
“This is a matter of shame for us that a notorious terrorist like Tamim Chowdhury resided near us”, Azizur Rahman, a resident of Paikpara, a section of Narayanganj where the gunfight took place, told a BenarNews correspondent at the scene.
Kerry is set to arrive in Bangladesh on Monday on his first official visit to try to deepen cooperation on counter-terrorism and other issues.
What Kerry publicly says Monday in Dhaka will be closely scrutinized there and overseas to gauge whether the visit is a success in terms of enhanced bilateral cooperation in countering violent extremism.
Bangladesh-born Canadian citizen Tamim Ahmed Chowdhury had earlier been identified as the mastermind of the July attacks at the Holey Artisan Bakery.
A joint team of security forces, including counter-terrorism forces and the Rapid Action Battalion (RAB), had cordoned off the building around 9.36 a.m. and the operation lasted an hour.
“Through these exchanges of information we have been able to weed out these sleeper cells”, Ziauddin said.
The militants belonged to the banned group Jumatul Mujahedeen Bangladesh, or JMB, Bangladesh’s police chief A.K.M. Shahidul Hoque told reporters.
“Three extremists were killed”.
Home Minister Asaduzzaman Khan said Saturday in televised remarks to reporters that the identities of the two militants killed with Chowdhury would be released after an investigation, but that one of them appeared to be Chowdhury’s right-hand man.
Officials have said that Mr. Chowdhury helped the attackers with safe houses and weaponry and accompanied them as they made their way to the upscale cafe-bakery the evening of July 1.
The cafe attack killed 20 hostages and two police officers.
Police blame the JMB for the deaths of more than 80 foreigners and members of religious minorities over the last three years.
Experts welcomed Saturday s police raid but said the country, with its history of political instability, faces a long fight against Islamist extremism.
The suspected militants singled out non-Muslims and foreigner hostages in the attack.
Chowdhury, a leader of the banned Islamist group Jamaatul Mujaheedin Bangladesh, was trained in Syria and had planned nearly all recent attacks in Bangladesh, police said.
Authorities said they recovered an AK-22 rifle and two live grenades from the second-floor apartment.
Mr. Islam said Chowdhury’s arrest was a major milestone because he was responsible for radicalizing the youths involved in the cafe attack as well as others who attacked worshipers July 7 at an Eid celebration.
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Diplomatic sources said Bangladesh, India and the United States are constantly exchanging intelligence about terrorism related activities and this cooperation is credited with halting potential attacks.
