Bangladesh police identify three dead militants linked to Dhaka cafe attack

Police say Towsif Hossain, who was missing since February, came from Dhaka's leafy Dhanmondi neighbourhood.

Bangladesh police have identified one of the three militants who were killed on Saturday in connection with July's Dhaka cafe attack that killed 22 people, including foreigners.

The head of the Dhaka police counterterrorism unit said Towsif Hossain, who was missing since February, came from Dhaka's leafy Dhanmondi neighbourhood. Hossain had also attended the Kuala Lumpur campus of Australia's prestigious Monash University, like Nibras Islam, one of the five young gunmen of the Dhaka café attack.

The counter-terrorism head Monirul Islam said the other militant, who was killed on Saturday morning, has been identified as Fazle Rabbi. Rabbi belonged from the Jessore district in the northwest of Dhaka and he was missing from last April.

Tamim Chowdhury, the mastermind of the attack was also killed in the raid along with these three militants on Saturday morning.

On July 1 evening, a group of Islamist militants killed 22 people, including 18 foreigners at the Holey Artisan Bakery Cafe in Dhaka. Later the police shot five of the attackers dead and rescued 13 hostages.

The suspected militants singled out non-Muslims and foreigner hostages in the attack.

The Islamic State (IS) claimed the responsibility for this attack but the Bangladesh government has always denied the existence of Islamic State militant group in Bangladesh and has blamed homegrown Islamists for the attacks.

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