Bangladesh police kill 3, including suspect in Dhaka attack

NEW DELHI (AP) - Police in Bangladesh killed three suspected militants Saturday, including an alleged mastermind of a major attack on a cafe last month that left 20 people dead.

Police sharpshooters raided a two-story house in Narayanganj district near the capital, Dhaka, after receiving a tip that Tamim Chowdhury, a Bangladeshi-born Canadian, and others were hiding there, top counterterrorism official Monirul Islam said.

Police say Chowdhury is one of two masterminds of the attack on a popular restaurant in Dhaka on July 1 that that killed 20 people, including 17 foreigners.

The militants belonged to the banned group Jumatul Mujahedeen Bangladesh, or JMB, Bangladesh's police chief A.K.M. Shahidul Hoque told reporters.

Chowdhury is also suspected behind a July 7 attack on an Eid congregation outside Dhaka marking the end of the holy Muslim month of Ramadan, he said. Four people died, including two police officers.

Bangladeshi police have been conducting raids across the country to hunt those behind the attacks.

After storming the building Saturday, a SWAT team made the final push and fatally shot the suspects after they failed to surrender. Haque said the team asked them to give themselves up but they kept on firing.

The Islamic State group had claimed responsibility for the restaurant attack, but authorities have denied that all along, saying it was the act of the JMB and that the IS has no presence in the Muslim-majority country.