Operation ‘South Paw’ continues at Jhenidah 'Neo JMB' militant den

Members of Counter Terrorism and Transnational Crime (CTTC) unit resumed their operation for the second day at a “Neo JMB” militant hideout in Jhenidah Sadar upazila this morning.

Under the codename “South Paw”, law enforcers started to dismantle a tin-shed house at Porahati village around 9:15am, reports our local correspondent quoting police.

However, police yesterday claimed that suspected militants already fled the spot before the CTTC began the drive.

The CTTC members yesterday also claimed to have recovered a huge stash of explosives and a 9mm pistol from the den in a house at Porahati.

The explosives include three suicide vests, a pressure cooker bomb, around 20 plastic containers of bomb-making chemicals and improvised explosive devices (IEDs) and detonators.

Last month, CTTC officials busted five hideouts of “Neo JMB” -- two in Chittagong, one in Sylhet and two in Moulvibazar. Nineteen people, including five children and five women, were killed in those incidents.

According to police, 16 of them were killed in suicidal blasts.

“Neo JMB”, which is believed to follow the ideology and strategy of Islamic State (IS), was responsible for the Gulshan café attack. Twenty-two people, including 17 foreigners and two police officials, were killed in the attack, said police.  

Since the attack, around 57 "Neo JMB" operatives have been killed in different drives.

Source: thedailystar