Two suspected Islamist extremists shot dead in Bangladesh
Alleged members of Jamayetul Mujahideen Bangladesh killed in exchange of gunfire after being challenged at a rural checkpoint, police say
The pair were challenged at a rural police checkpoint and killed in an exchange of gunfire, said Munshiganj police chief Zaidul Alam.
Both men were in their early 30s and alleged to be members of Jamayetul Mujahideen Bangladesh (JMB). Police have not disclosed their full names.
The JMB was blamed for the 2016 attack on a cafe in an affluent Dhaka neighbourhood, during which 18 foreigners and four other hostages were killed.
Alam said one of the two men was the “main mastermind” of the killing of publisher and Communist Party official Shahzahan Bachchu near Munshiganj in June.
The other militant was “a JMB bomb-maker” who had taken part in the killing, Alam said.