Two suspected militants die in shootout in Bangladeshi capital

Two suspected militants of the banned Jamaatul Mujahideen Bangladesh (JMB) have been killed in a shootout in Bangladeshi capital Dhaka, said a senior police official on Thursday.

The official at the Detective Branch of the Bangladesh Police said on Thursday morning that Abdullah alias Noman, 35, national operations commander of JMB, and Kamal alias Hiran, 30, Dhaka regional commander of the outfit, died during a raid in a Dhaka area early Thursday.

The official who did not like to be named said

Hiran is accused in a case filed over the killing of a police constable in an attack on a checkpoint at Ashulia on the outskirts of capital Dhaka in November last year.

Hiran was one of the two JMB militants who fled during a raid on a JMB hideout in Dhaka last month, said the official.

Acting on the information of three militants arrested Wednesday night, the official said the law enforcers conducted a drive at around 11:30 p.m. local time Wednesday night.

He said militants threw bombs at the law enforcers as they were carrying out the search, forcing the law enforcers to retaliate during which two more militants were also wounded.

Two more militants managed to flee the scene on a bike, he added.

JMB, campaigning for establishment of Islamic rule in Bangladesh, carried out a series of bomb attacks in the country's 63 districts including capital Dhaka on Aug. 17, 2005, leaving two people dead and 150 others injured. Hundreds of JMB leaders and activists were rounded up while six top leaders of the group, including Shaikh Abdur Rahman, were hanged in 2007. Endit