Militant trainer killed in Bangladesh raid

NEW DELHI — Bangladesh police in an overnight raid killed a man who allegedly trained the Islamist militants believed to have carried out the July hostage-taking in Dhaka’s diplomatic quarter that left 20 people dead, including 17 foreigners, officials said Saturday.

The raid came after increased international pressure on Bangladesh to crack down on militants who in recent years have staged violent attacks on diplomats, atheists, bloggers and other perceived enemies of Islam. Last week, U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry visited the Sunni-majority South Asian nation and urged authorities to do more in the fight against radicalism.

Details of the Friday night raid in Dhaka’s Mirpur neighborhood emerged slowly, and authorities only confirmed the killing of the man identified as Murad early Saturday. They said the man, about 4045 years old, also went by the names of Jahangir and Omar, but they are still trying to determine his full identity.

Police counterterrorism chief Monirul Islam said the man was killed in a gunbattle outside his rented, fifthfloor apartment in a six-story building after he had gone there to collect some belongings.

Upon beginning the raid, the man opened fire with a pistol on police, and then stabbed two officers with a knife as they surrounded him, Islam said. A third officer suffered bullet wounds, he said.