At least two civilians and one policeman killed during the operation at a residential building in Sylhet city.

At least two civilians and one policeman have been killed by explosions during an anti-terror operation in northeast Bangladesh.

The country's Daily Star newspaper reported on Saturday that two civilians were killed and another 26 injured when a blast ripped through the Shibbari area of Sylhet city as paramilitary commandos and SWAT carried out a raid on a suspected 'extremist' hideout.

A second blast infront of the hideout killed a policeman and left five others injured, it added.

Armed forces spokesman Colonel Rashidul Hasan told the AFP news agency that 78 people, who were trapped in the five-storey building, had been rescued after a more than 30-hour standoff.

Acting on a tip-off, police said they raided the building early on Friday and cordoned off the area after the attackers detonated small bombs.

"The operation began at 7:00am (01:00 GMT) in the morning and is still going on," Hasan said, adding the commandos "exchanged fire" with the attackers who were confined to a ground-floor apartment of the building.

The spokesman did not say how many people were in the building, but police said there were at least two, including a woman.

WATCH Does Bangladesh have an ISIL problem?

The raid comes after a series of suicide attacks this month including one at a police check-point near the country's main international airport on Friday night.

Two of the attacks, including Friday's blast in which the suicide attacker was killed, were claimed by the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL, also known as ISIS) group.

ISIL has also claimed responsibility for a wave of killings since 2015 including a major attack on a Dhaka cafe last year in which 22 people, including 18 foreign hostages, were killed.

The Bangladeshi government denies ISIL has any presence in the country, arguing instead that a new faction of Jamayetul Mujahideen Bangladesh (JMB) was behind that and other attacks. </s> At least one person was killed and scores wounded in a bomb blast on Saturday near a militant hideout being raided by commandos in northeastern Bangladesh, police said.

The explosion in Sylhet district came just a day after a suicide bomber blew himself up at a security checkpost near the country’s main airport.

For all the latest World News, download Indian Express App now </s> Bangladeshi policemen watch as paramilitary soldiers try to flush out Islamist radicals who have holed up in a building with a large cache of ammunition in the city of Sylhet, Bangladesh, Sunday, March 26, 2017. At least six people, including two policemen, have died in explosions in eastern Bangladesh as troops battle suspected militants.

Start the conversation, or Read more at Powhatan Today. </s> At least six people, including two police officials, were killed and scores wounded in two bomb blasts in Bangladesh Saturday near a militant hideout that was raided by commandos, police said.

The explosions in the northeastern district of Sylhet came a day after a suicide bomber blew himself up at a security checkpoint near the country’s main airport in an attack claimed by Islamic State.

“At least six people including two police official were killed in two explosions, one near the hideout and another in front of the building,” said Sylhet police spokesman Zedan Al Musa.

More than 40 people were wounded, several critically, he added. About a dozen army and police personnel were among the injured.

Islamic State claimed responsibility “for a bombing on Bangladeshi forces in Sylhet,” the SITE monitoring service said, citing the militant group’s news agency Amaq.

Army commandos had stormed the hideout, belonged to a domestic Islamist group that has pledged allegiance to the Islamic State. The group was blamed for a cafe attack last July in which 22 people were killed, most of them foreigners.

On Saturday, commandos rescued all 78 people trapped inside the five-story building for more than a day in an operation that was still underway.

The raid came after a string of suicide attacks on security bases this month.

A forensic report confirmed that Friday’s attack was a suicide blast that was the third incident involving explosives in the capital, Dhaka, in a week.

Islamic State and al-Qaida have made competing claims over killings of foreigners, liberals and members of religious minorities in Bangladesh, a mostly Muslim country of 160 million people.

The government has consistently ruled out the presence of such groups, blaming domestic militants instead. </s> The police confirmed that the two officers killed in the explosions were members of the police bomb disposal unit, the Bangladesh News24 newspaper wrote.

The Islamic State (Daesh) has reportedly claimed responsibility for the bombing.

On Saturday morning, the Bangladeshi Para-Commando Battalion units began the operation against unidentified militants barricaded in two buildings in Sylhet, with the police evacuating dozens of civilians from the buildings, the media said. </s> A.M. Ahad / The Associated Press

DHAKA, BANGLADESH—A boiler explosion at a garment factory in Bangladesh owned by export-oriented Multifabs Ltd. has killed 10 people and injured 50, officials said Tuesday.

Local police chief Aminul Islam said the explosion occurred Monday evening at Kashimpur in Gazipur district, outside the capital, Dhaka. By Tuesday afternoon, 10 deaths had been reported.

Islam said the search for more victims was continuing. Relatives said about six people remained missing.

The injured were being treated at hospitals, Islam said.

Authorities have ordered an investigation into the cause of the explosion. </s> A boiler explosion at a garment factory in Bangladesh owned by export-oriented Multifabs Ltd. has killed 10 people and injured 50, officials said Tuesday. Local police chief Aminul Islam said the explosion took place on Monday evening at Kashimpur area in Gazipur district, outside the capital, Dhaka.

Start the conversation, or Read more at Fox News. </s> DHAKA, Bangladesh — A boiler explosion at a garment factory in Bangladesh owned by export-oriented Multifabs Ltd. has killed 10 people and injured 50, officials said Tuesday.

Local police chief Aminul Islam said the explosion occurred Monday evening at Kashimpur in Gazipur district, outside the capital, Dhaka. By Tuesday afternoon, 10 deaths had been reported.

Islam said the search for more victims was continuing. Relatives said about six people remained missing.

The injured were being treated at hospitals, Islam said.

Authorities have ordered an investigation into the cause of the explosion.

Relatives waited outside the four-story building Tuesday for news about their loved ones as firefighters searched for victims.

The company’s website says it produces about 140,000 pieces of knitted apparel a day for export.

Bangladesh has about 4,000 garment factories and is the world’s second-largest producer after China. The country has improved its factory safety standards after the collapse of a complex housing five factories killed more than 1,100 people in 2013. But experts say many factories still need to upgrade their machinery and increase building safety. </s> A bomber detonated explosives Friday near Dhaka's airport in Bangladesh, killing himself but causing no other casualties, police officials told CNN.

The blast occurred at a checkpoint near Hazrat Shahjalal International Airport, according to Assistant Police Commissioner Ruhul Amin Shagor.

It was the third recent attempted suicide attack in Bangladesh's capital.

On Saturday, a suspected militant carrying explosives was killed by the Rapid Action Battalion, or RAB, Bangladesh's counterterrorism squad.

On March 17, a suicide bomber denotated explosives outside a RAB camp in Dhaka, killing himself and injuring two security personnel.
Four people are killed in twin bombings in Sylhet, Bangladesh.