Mass terror attack bid foiled in B'desh, 9 militants killed

Another 'mass terror attack' bid was foiled today in Bangladesh, reeling under a number of Islamist assaults, as security forces killed nine members of a homegrown militant group during a fierce gun-battle that erupted after a pre-dawn raid at their hideout here.
Police said the nine terrorists were killed while one was captured alive during the operation codenamed 'Storm 26' to flush out militants holed up in an apartment at a six-storey building in Kalyanpur area.
Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina said Bangladesh averted a major terror attack.
"The country averted a fearful situation because of the (security) raid," she said.

The Prime Minister said that the raid was carried out on intelligence reports that the terrorists were preparing for an attack and security forces took immediate action.
Police's special SWAT unit, elite anti-crime Rapid Action Battalion (RAB) and detectives jointly raided 'Jahaz Building' around 5:51 AM local time, sparking a gunfight that last for an hour.

"From police intelligence sources we learnt that they were planning to carry out a major incident. We conducted the operation to foil any such incident," national police chief A K M Shahidul Hoque told reporters.
Dhaka's joint police commissioner Sheikh Maruf Hassan said the security forces arrested one militant with bullet wounds from the scene during the special raid.

Hoque said militants were suspected to be members of homegrown extremist group Jamaat-ul-Mujahideen (JMB) blamed by the government for the July 1 cafe attack, the country's worst terror assault.
"They (militants) are primarily presumed to be a part of the group that carried out terror attacks in Gulshan (restaurant) and (northern) Sholakia," Hoque said.
The Islamist gunmen wearing black tunics, turbans and carrying backpacks exchanged fire and shouted "Allahu Akbar" (God is the Greatest).
Dhaka's police commissioner Asaduzzaman Mia later told a media briefing that terrorists were "highly educated".
"We seized 13 handmade grenades, one sword, one pistol, seven magazines and bullets from the den...Along with other evidence like 'Allahu Akbar inscribed black flags," he said.

Rakibul Hasan alias Rigan, the militant arrested during the raid, was missing since last one year. He claimed to be a member of the Islamic State, reports said.
But the police chief said police found no evidence of ISIS link. Security analyst believe that JMB is ideologically inclined to the Syria-based outfit.