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Top Bangladesh army officer dies from injuries in IS-claimed blast

A top officer of Bangladesh's elite security force died on Friday, days after he was wounded in IS-claimed blasts that took…

Top Bangladesh army officer dies from injuries in IS-claimed blast

A top officer of Bangladesh's elite security force died on Friday, days after he was wounded in IS-claimed blasts that took place during a military-led commando assault on a militant hideout in Sylhet.

Abul Kalam Azad, a 41-year-old army lieutenant colonel who was serving as Rapid Action Battalion's intelligence-wing chief, died a week after he was critically wounded when two powerful bombs ripped through a crowd near a building where four militants were holed up.

Azad was seriously wounded in blasts and flown to Dhaka for treatment. He was later flown to Singapore.

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Army doctors said Azad, who had suffered critical head injuries, was sent back by Singapore doctors after they failed to treat him. He died at a military hospital in Dhaka.

Azad was the highest ranked military officer to have been killed in the country's more than decade-long fight against Islamist extremism.

All four Islamists holed up in their den in Sylhet were eventually killed in army's 'Operation Twilight'.

Last Saturday, two powerful bombs ripped through the crowd near the building, killing six people, two being police officers and injuring about 50.

Hours later the Islamic State (IS) claimed responsibility for the attack through its propaganda news agency 'Amaq'.

Musa, the chief of neo-JMB (neo-Jamaatul Mujahideen Bangladesh) blamed for Bangladesh's worst terror attack at a Dhaka cafe, was among the four Islamist militants killed in one of the country's longest anti-terror operations in Sylhet that lasted for five days.

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