Dhaka cafe attack ‘mastermind’ killed
DHAKA: Bangladesh security forces killed three Islamist militants on Saturday, including a Bangladesh-born Canadian citizen accused of masterminding an attack on a cafe in Dhaka last month that killed 22 people, mostly foreigners, police said.
The militants were cornered in a hideout on the outskirts of Dhaka and, having refused to surrender, were killed in the ensuing gunbattle, Monirul Islam, the head of the Dhaka police counterterrorism unit, said.
US secretary of state John Kerry is due to visit on Monday to discuss security after a series of killings targeting liberals.
Islamic State claimed responsibility for the assault on the cafe in a posh neighbourhood where militants singled out nonmuslims and foreigners, killing Italians, Japanese, an American and an Indian.
The government has consistently denied the presence in the country of any transnational militant organisation such as al Qaeda or Islamic State. But police believe that Jamaat-ulmujahideen Bangladesh, which has pledged allegiance to Islamic State, was involved in organising the cafe attack.
The suspected mastermind killed in the raid was identified as Tamim Ahmed Chowdhury, a 30-year-old Canadian citizen born in Bangladesh. Analysts say Islamic State in April identified Chowdhury as its national commander.