At least seven suspected militants were killed on Thursday after Bangladeshi police stormed a house where members of the Neo-JMB were holed up, police said.

Bangladesh's Couner-Terrorism Police Unit Chief Monirul Islam declared the "Operation Hit Back" was over.

"Seven to eight bodies were found scattered at the militant den in Moulvibazar's Nasirnagar," he told reporters.

The senior police officer said the militants were most likely killed in "suicide explosions."

The Neo-JMB, an offshoot of the banned militant outfit Jamaatul Mujahideen Bangladesh, was blamed for the deadly July 1, 2016 attack on a Spanish cafe in Dhaka, which killed 22 people mostly foreigners.

Security forces surrounded two buildings in two separate places in Moulvibazar district since early Wednesday.

Islam said law enforcers will begin operation in the second militant hideout in the northeastern district after wrapping up the Nasirpur part.

Source: Xinhua