2nd LD Writethru: 3 militants dead as Bangladeshi elite force storm militant hideout

DHAKA, Nov. 28 (Xinhua) -- Three charred bodies were found after Bangladesh's security forces stormed a militant hideout on Tuesday afternoon in the country's northwestern Chapainawabganj district.

Anti-crime elite force Rapid Action Battalion (RAB) spokesman Mufti Mahmud Khan confirmed the death of three militants.

"Three burned bodies were seen in the tin-shed building where the militants were hiding out," he told journalists.

Khan said the suspected militants might have killed themselves in a series of explosions that rocked the militant hideout situated in the middle of a vast river island.

The blasts resulted in a big fire visible from far off the area.

"So far we understand the deceased militants were active members of banned militant outfit JMB (Jama'atul Mujahideen Bangladesh)," he said after an about 10-hour-long raid that ended at about 1:00 p.m. local time.

According to the RAB spokesman, three improvised explosive devices (IEDs), seven detonators, 12 explosive gel packs and two pistols were found in the house.

A police official who declined to be named said security forces surrounded the house suspecting it a militant hideout early Tuesday.

The suspected militants inside exploded four to five bombs as the law enforcers asked them to surrender, he added.

At least three people, including owner of the house, were detained.

In the wake of the deadly July 1, 2016 cafe attack, security has been tightened in Bangladesh.

Neo-JMB, an offshoot of the banned militant outfit JMB, has been blamed for the attack on the Holey Artisan Bakery in Dhaka's Gulshan on July 1, 2016 which left 22 people, mostly foreigners, dead. Enditem