Bangladesh: Chief of neo-jmb killed in Sylhet shootout

THE SCOTTISH Parliament on Tuesday backed a bid to hold a new independence referendum in 2018 or 2019, but the British government immediately rejected the proposal.

The stand-off further complicates the UK’S political situation just as years of daunting negotiations on the terms of its exit from the European Union are about to begin.

The Brexit issue has strained ties between the UK’S four constituent parts because England and Wales voted to leave the EU while Scotland and Northern Ireland voted to remain.

British Prime Minister Theresa May is due to trigger Article 50 of the bloc’s Lisbon Treaty on Wednesday, a formal step that will start two years of talks on withdrawal terms and future trade relations.

The Scottish legislature in Edinburgh voted by a majority of 69 to 59 to give First Minister Nicola Sturgeon a mandate to formally seek permission from the British Parliament in London to prepare for a referendum in late 2018 or early 2019.

“The people of Scotland should have the right to choose between Brexit, possibly a very hard Brexit, or becoming an independent country able to chart our own course,” Sturgeon said.

‘Now is not the time’

But the British government swiftly responded that it would refuse to enter into negotiations on Sturgeon’s proposal.

Sturgeon has said the shape of the future deal should become clear between the autumn of 2018 and the spring of 2019, and the Scottish executive would also put forward a detailed plan by then for what independence would entail. Scots voted against independence by 55 to 45 per cent in 2014 but Sturgeon argues the Brexit vote changed circumstances and they should not be dragged out of the EU against their will.

May has said “now is not the time” for a new vote on Scottish independence and said her focus was on getting a good Brexit deal.

Sturgeon said she would not seek discussions with London until after Article 50 was triggered because she recognised Wednesday was a momentous day and May should not be distracted. She said that if London sought to block her plan, she would return before the legislature after Easter to say how she would handle the situation. She gave no further details. REUTERS THE CHIEF of the terror group blamed for Bangladesh’s worst terror attack at a Dhaka cafe was among the four Islamist militants killed in one of the country’s longest anti-terror operations in Sylhet, police said Tuesday.

“Our intelligence suggest one of the four is top neo-jmb (neojamaatul Mujahideen Bangladesh) leader Musa,” Police’s Assistant Inspector General M Moniruzzaman told PTI.

He, however, said forensic investigation was ordered to further confirm his identity as his face was mutilated in the fierce encounter. Officials earlier identified the man only as Musa, saying he took the charge of the outfit as a massive anti-militancy operations killed several top neo-jmb leaders after the July 1 attack on Holey Artisan cafe.

The July 1 attack on Gulshan’s Holey Artisan Bakery in Dhaka’s posh diplomatic area killed 23 people, including an Indian girl.

Musa was among four Islamist terrorists killed during “Operation Twilight”, one of the country’s longest anti-terror operations launched after a suicide bomber on Friday night blew himself up at the international airport in Dhaka in an attack claimed by the Islamic State terror group. It came a week after an identical attack on a Rapid Action Battalion camp in Dhaka.

The four militants, including a woman, were holed up in a building that saw powerful blasts claimed by the Islamic State that killed six people in northeastern Sylhet city.

Bangladesh’s army Tuesday cleared the booby-trapped militant den in Sylhet and carried out controlled explosions of bombs in the building.

Severalpowerfulblastsrocked the area as army’s bomb disposal experts engaged in defusing the explosives planted at different cornersofthebuildingbythemilitants before their deaths.

“The army’s explosive experts are working inside to defuse the devices apparently through controlled explosions,” a source said. An army spokesman said their assaults killed all Islamists but the operation is still underway secure the site. PTI

Reuters Scotland’s First Minister Nicola Sturgeon during the debate in the Parliament in Edinburgh, Tuesday.