The Para-Commandos of the Bangladesh Army on Monday evening flushed out militants from Atia Mahal, the centre of attention of "Operation Twilight" for four days in Sylhet.
Four bodies of suspected militants, including a woman, were recovered from the lower storey of the building, says the army. The Operation Twilight" is still underway. No army official was injured during the Operation, the army added.
Brig Gen Mohammad Fakhrul Ahsan told journalists at a press briefing in Shibbari in the evening, "We've found four bodies inside the building, all wearing suicide vests."
Brig Gen Ahsan said theanti-terror operation, on its fourth day on Monday, never got out of hand. "We found the militants were well-trained. You must congratulate the army for the success in eliminating them," he said.
The deceased militants are yet to be identified and it is not clear which group they belong to. Brig Gen Fakhrul Ahsan said police will do the identification job as per the process. However, unconfirmed sources say they are members of the militant group, Neo-JMB.
Intelligence provided by the police on the number of suspects and their gender proved correct, he said. "The bodies were of three men and one woman."
The army, he said, will continue 'Operation Twilight' on the buildings still booby-trapped. "The building will be substantially damaged if all these were to explode."
The 1st Para-Commando Battalion took over the anti-terror raid from the police on Saturday. The two buildings, with a militant hideout in one of its lower-storey flats, have been cordoned off since early Friday.
Brig Gen Fakhrul Ahsan had confirmed the use of heavy artillery like rocket launchers, explosives and shells to engage the militants.
Earlier, after a day of intense firing and extended restrictions around Shibbari, fire broke out at Atia Mahal. Large plumes of smoke were seen coming out of the ground floor - where the militants were holed up - at about 3:40pm. Fire fighters rushed to the scene and took control of the situation.
Two fire fighting units controlled the blaze within 20 minutes. Army quickly moved in from the rear preparing for what it seemed like another assault, our correspondent reports from the spot.
Police on Monday handed over the bodies of two people who were killed in the twin bomb blasts near the militant den in Sylhet.
Fazlur Rahman, a Sub-Inspector of Moglabazar Police Station told The Daily Observer on Monday that bodies of Khadem Shah and Shahidul Islam -- who were killed in the first of the twin blasts near Atia Mahal where the raid is going on -- have been handed over to their respective families around 2:00pm,
So far, ten people have been killed -- including the four militants and two police officials -- and at least 40 others were injured since the raid began from the wee hours of Friday.
On Monday restriction net was even widened as the law enforcers formed a five-kilometre secure area around the house located in Dakshin Surma.
Police have filed a case against unnamed persons over the Saturday's blast that killed six people near the Sylhet militant hideout.
Moghlabazar OC Khairul Fazal told the Daily Observer, "Sub-Inspector SI Shiplu Chowdhury filed the case on Sunday night."
The Inter Services Public Relations directorate has released five videos on 'Operation Twilight' conducted in suspected militant den 'Atia Mahal' in Sylhet's Shibbari, The five video footages were posted on ISPR's official website on Monday.
In the first video footage, it is seen that army Para-Commandos are trying to enter 'Atia Mahal' by breaking a portion of a wall of the building while in the second video clip, the sounds of sporadic gunshots were heard.
