DHAKA: Five of the nine militants killed here were members of a suicide squad of the banned Jama'atul Mujahideen Bangladesh (JMB), police said.
After being trained in Gaibandha district in northern Bangladesh, the militants reportedly gathered to carry out suicide attacks, an official probing militancy told the Dhaka Tribune on Tuesday.
The five were killed last week in an early morning raid on a hideout in Dhaka's Kalyanpur area.
The official said the militants were brainwashed by Abdullah alias Motaleb, one of the nine militants killed.
Monirul Islam, chief of the Counter-Terrorism and Transnational Crime Unit, also said: "Analysing the evidence and information gleaned from the injured militant - Rakibul Hasan Rigan - we are suspecting at least five of the nine militants were members of a suicide squad."
Even the ninth militant who is yet to be identified might have been involved in the suicide squad, he said.
The five suicide squad members were identified as Taz-ul-Haq Rashik, Akifuzzaman, Sazad Rauf Arko, Matiar Rahman and Jobayer Hossain.
The remaining three militants - Raihan, Kabir and Tareq - were arms and bomb trainer, Monirul said.
JMB leader Tamim Ahmed Chowdhury visited the militants to inspire them through speeches and financial support, according to the case statement of the raid.
