Security forces storm terror den, 3 militants dead

Three militants, including a woman, were found dead by Bangladesh security forces on Saturday when they stormed their hideout, ending a two-day stand off with Islamist militants in a northeastern city amid a massive nationwide clampdown on militants.

Announcing the end of the "Operation Maximums" at the Islamist militants hideout in Moulvibazar town's Borohat area, counter-terrorism Unit chief Monirul Islam told media that bodies of two men and a woman were found inside the duplex house.

"We found three bodies including that of a woman as we entered the den," Islam said, adding the militants had set up explosives at different spots in the building. "Our intention was to capture them alive and therefore we repeatedly called them to surrender but they defied...attacked us back throwing grenades and blasting bombs

whenever our SWAT members tried to approach them," he said. Police's elite Special Weapons and Tactics (SWAT) on Friday launched the second subsequent raid at the hideout in Moulvibazar town, a day after wrapping up their "Operation Hit Back" at another den nearby when a family of eight, including children, blew themselves up in a

suicide blast amidst the security siege.