Bangladesh militants in suicide blast as police surround extremist hideout

At least two Bangladeshi militants blew themselves up Thursday after throwing grenades at police who surrounded a suspected extremist hideout outside the port city of Chittagong, police said.

“They came out in the stairs and carried out a big explosion. Parts of their bodies were spread to 25-30 yards (metres),” said Sanwar Hossain, additional deputy commissioner of the police counter-terrorism unit.

“Two people including a woman are confirmed dead,” he said, adding parts of the staircase were blown off in the explosion.

National police chief A.K.M Shahidul Hoque said that the dead were members of a new faction of the homegrown Islamist extremist group Jamayetul Mujahideen Bangladesh (JMB), blamed for a series of deadly attacks including a cafe siege in Dhaka where 22 people including 18 foreign hostages were killed.

“Probably three militants including one female died. Two policemen (were) injured,” he said in a text message.

Police had cordoned off the hideout during a major counter-terrorism drive in Sitakundu town, outside Chittagong, since Wednesday evening after suspected militants threw grenades and opened fire at officers.