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DHAKA, March 16 (Xinhua) -- Three suspected militants were killed in suicide blasts during a raid in a hideout in the country's seaport city Chittaong, some 242 km southeast of capital Dhaka, a local police official said.
The Chittaong police official told Xinhua over mobile phone from the scene that "two militants have blown themselves up Thursday morning despite repeated requests to surrender."
He said a woman who has also suffered critical injuries due to the blasts later succumbed to her injuries at a hospital, said the official who declined to be named.
Special units of Bangladesh Police from capital Dhaka have joined the local law enforcers in the raid which started on Thursday morning.
Sounds of several explosions and gun fires were heard from the militants' hideout at about 6:00 a.m. local time (0000 GMT) when the law enforcers police mounted the assault.
A member of Dhaka Metropolitan Police's Special Weapon and Tactic Team (SWAT) among three cops were reportedly sustained injuries during the gunfight.
A police officer was also injured when militants hurled grenades shortly after policemen Wednesday sealed-off two buildings on information that they were used as hideouts by militants of the Neo JMB.
Neo-JMB, an offshoot of banned militant outfit Jamaatul Mujahideen Bangladesh, is blamed for July 1 last year attack on the Holey Artisan Bakery in Dhaka's diplomatic quarter, in which 20 hostages, mostly foreigners, were killed.
A husband and wife along with a child were arrested from one of the buildings on Wednesday night.
Since the cafe attack, the Bangladeshi police apparently have gone tough against neo-JMB. Tamim Chowdhury, a Bangladeshi-Canadian, and Sarwar Jahan, identified as Neo JMB chief who was killed during a raid on Oct. 8 last year, have been blamed as the mastermind of the brutal attack on the Spanish cafe.
Chowdhury was also killed in a police raid on Aug. 27 last year. JMB carried out a series of bombings in 63 out of the country's 64 districts, including the capital of Dhaka on Aug. 17, 2005, leaving two people dead and 150 others injured.
Hundreds of JMB leaders and activists were rounded up while six top leaders of the group, including Shaikh Abdur Rahman, were hanged in 2007.
