A family of five suspected terrorists on Thursday blew themselves up in suicide blasts on Thursday during a security raid on a militant hideout in Bangladesh's Rajshahi district, a police official said. Reports state that a firefighter was also killed in the blast.
Local media reports said that among the 5 killed militants were 2 women. The fireman killed in the suicide blast was identified as Abdul Latin.
Police reportedly raided the suspected militant hideout, which was about 200 miles (120 km) west of Dhaka, after it received a tip-off.
Police officials said that after receiving the information, security forces reached the spot on Thursday morning and surrounded the house. The operation began at 3:00 in the morning on Thursday. The forces repeatedly asked the militants to surrender but they refused to do so. The family blew itself up when police attempted to enter the house.
"Four militants blew themselves when the police tried to enter the house where members of the banned Neo-Jamaatul Mujahideen Bangladesh (JMB) militant group were holed up," a police official said.
Two policeman were injured in the incident and are currently being treated at the Rajshahi Medical College Hospital.
Reports state that the militants are believed to be the owner of the house and five members were present inside the house at the time: Sajjad Hossain, his wife Beli, two sons Alamin and Shoaib and daughter Kareema. Hossain's another daughter Sumaiya was seen sitting in the field in front of the house at that time of the raid.
Sumaiya surrendered to the police after three hours. Police said that her 8-year-old son came out of the house with his 3-month-old sister before the attack. All of them have been taken by the police.
The Neo-JMB, an offshoot of the banned militant outfit Jamaatul Mujahideen Bangladesh, is suspected to be behind the deadly July 1, 2016, attack on a cafe in Dhaka. The attack killed 22 people, most of the dead were foreigners.
