Anti-terror operation
60 militants killed so far
STAFF REPORTER
At least 60 militants and four of their children were either killed or committed suicide during the last 17 anti-militant operations and militant strikes in the capital and elsewhere in the country, following the Holey Artisan attack in Gulshan. Besides, four police personnel, 18 foreign nationals and eight others were killed during the militant attacks and different operations carried out by law enforcers --- from the Holey Artisan militant attack to Mirpurs Mazar Road operation.
Police officers do not rule out the possibility of fresh militant attacks. During the latest anti-militant operation yesterday (Wednesday), law enforcers confirmed the death of seven persons. Their skulls were found inside a building on Mazar Road in Mirpur.
The director general of the Rapid Action Battalion (RAB), Benazir Ahmed, told the media that the skulls were of two children, two women and three men.
According to him, their bodies were possibly burnt in a series of blasts on Tuesday night that could be seen as a big fire from far off.
The Holey Artisan militant attack on the night of July 1 last year was the worst terrorist attack in Bangladeshs history. It left at least 29 people dead, with five of the militants killed during Operation Thunderbolt carried out by the army.
Five militants took diners hostage and opened fire inside the Holey Artisan Bakery in Gulshan. The assailants entered the bakery with crude bombs, machetes, pistols, and took several dozen hostages, including foreigners and locals. When the police tried to regain control of the bakery, two officers were shot dead by the assailants.
Besides, two bakery staff and two others were killed during the incident. Within a week of the Gulshan attack, the militants struck again, targeting the Sholakia Eid congregation in Kishoreganj on July 7. At least one militant, two policemen and a woman were killed.
Law enforcers carried out an anti-militant operation, named Storm 26, at Kalyanpur on July 26, 2016, in which at least nine militants were killed.
Three militants, including Tamim Chowdhury, one of the masterminds of the Gulshan attack, were killed during the Heat Strong 27 operation in Narayanganj on August 8, 2016.
Another operation, Spate 8, was carried out in Gazipur on October 8 last year. Seven militants were killed.
Two militants were killed during Operation Ripple 24 on December 24 last year in Ashkona, while four in Operation Assault 16 in Sitakunda, Chittagong on March 15, 2016, four in Operation Twilight in Sylhet on March 25 this year, seven, including four children, during Operation Hit Back in Moulvibazar on March 29 this year. Besides, three militants were killed during Operation Maximus in Borohat, Moulvibazar on March 29, while four in Operation Eagle Hunt at Shibganj in Chapainawabganj on April 26, two in Operation Subtle Split-2 at Moheshpur in Jhenaidah on May 7, five in Operation Sun Devil at Godagari in Rajshahi on May 11 and one in Operation August Bite at Panthapath in Dhaka on August 15 this year.
Law enforcers also carried out Operation Subtle Split-1 at Lebutola, Jhenaidah, on May 7; Operation Southpaw at Porahati, Jhenidah, on April 22; and Operation Tepid Punch at Bheramara, Kustia, on July 1 this year. There were no reports of death of any militant.
Talking to The Independent, the Dhaka Metropolitan Police (DMP) spokesperson, Masudur Rahman, said that according to information available there is no other militant den in the capital city as of now. He, however, said that they could not brush aside the possibility of a fresh militant attack.
There is no threat of militant attack at this moment. But we can never say that the possibility of attack is not there, he added.
