5 'militants', 1 firefighter killed in Rajshahi raid

Five alleged militants and a firefighter have been killed as police raided a reported militant hideout in Godagari upazila of Rajshahi.

Police started the anti-militant raid on Wednesday night at a residential building in the Habaspur area of the upazila.

At 9:15am, senior assistant superintendent (ASP) of Godagari police circle Md Ekramul Haque told Prothom Alo that at least five militants were killed in the police raid.

A militant is still staying inside the militant hideout wearing suicide vest, he added.

Speaking over phone, he said two policemen and a fire service man were injured during the raid. They were admitted to the Rajshahi Medical College Hospital.

At about 10:00am, Shafiul Azam, a policeman at the hospital outpost said injured firefighter Abdul Matin succumbed to his injuries while being treated.

Earlier, Godagari upazila officer-in-charge Hibjur Alam Munsi also told Prothom Alo that the militants exploded suicide bombs out of the residential house. The fire service and policemen were injured in the blast.

Seeking anonymity, an official of the Dhaka Metropolitan Police's counter terrorism unit said Counter Terrorism and Transnational Crime (CTTC), Police Headquarters' LIC unit, and local police jointly conducted the raid.

In past few months, police conducted anti-militant raids in several alleged militant hideouts in Shitakunda, Sylhet, Moulvibazar, Chapainawabganj, and Jhenaidah.

A total of 25 people, including women and children, were killed during the raids.

In a nearly a week-long raid in Sytlhet, seven people, including chief of the Rapid Action Battalions (RAB's) detective unit Abul Kalam Azaz and two police officers were killed.