Bangladesh security forces said on Wednesday they had captured the two remaining fugitive leaders of a banned Islamic militant group wanted for a series of deadly blasts.Salauddin, who uses one name, was captured at a hideout in Chittagong city late on Tuesday while Khalid Saifullah was later arrested after an all-night siege at a house in Dhaka, paramilitary spokesman Mashuk Hasan said.
“With the capture of the two leaders, we have now arrested all seven members of the Jamayetul Mujahideen Bangladesh’s top decision making body, the Majlish-e-Shura, or ruling council,” the Rapid Action Battalion commander said.
The elite battalion is at the forefront of the countryÂ’s battle against Islamic militants and conducted a series of raids in the past weeks in their hunt for Salauddin and Saifullah.
Hasan said the two were leading the remnants of the group and were preparing for an attack on key government targets.
“It’s a big sigh of relief for us. All seven leaders of the JMB are now under our custody and the group’s backbone is now completely broken,” he said.
Jamayetul Mujahideen BangladeshÂ’s leader, Shaikh Abdur Rahman, was detained last month after a siege in the northeastern city of Sylhet.
The second in command, Siddiqul Islam, alias Bangla Bhai (Bangla brother), was caught after a gunbattle a week later.
Islam is also leader of outfitÂ’s sister group, Jagrat Muslim Janata Bangladesh (JMJB), blamed for a number of vigilante killings in northern Rajshahi district.
The two outlawed groups want strict Islamic laws imposed in the largely Muslim country and have waged a bloody campaign that has left 28 people dead, including four suicide bombers, in a wave of bombings since August.
The government has vowed to preserve BangladeshÂ’s secular character and root out the extremists. Thousands of police, paramilitaries and elite security have been engaged in the effort to arrest members of the groups.
Nearly 1,000 Jamayetul Mujahideen Bangladesh members have been arrested, with 22 given death sentences.
The government banned both groups more than a year ago blaming them for a series of earlier bomb attacks on shrines, musical events, cinemas and other targets.