4 militants killed in police raid on hideout in Bangladesh

Dhaka: Four bodies of suspected militants were found after police stormed a hideout of the Neo-JMB members in the country's western Chapainawabganj district on Thursday.

Senior police officer Khurshid Hossain said the "Operation Eagle Hunt" to wipe out the militant hideout was over, Xinhua news agency reported.

"The bodies of four men were found after the law enforcers managed to enter the Neo-JMB hideout," he told reporters.

The militants, including one named Rafikul Alam Abu, blew themselves up using explosives, said Hossain.

Security forces had surrounded the house since early Wednesday.

On Thursday afternoon, police forces managed to bring an injured woman and a child out of the militant den.

Earlier in the day, a huge blast and sporadic gunshots were heard from the house.

Police officials said the slain militants were likely mid-level leaders of "Neo JMB".

The Neo-JMB, an offshoot of the banned militant outfit Jamaatul Mujahideen Bangladesh, was blamed for the deadly July 1, 2016, attack on a Spanish cafe in Dhaka, in which 22 people, mostly foreigners, were killed.

Last month Bangladeshi police conducted series of large-scale anti-terror operations, in which at least 17 suspected militants were killed.