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.
Counterterrorism official Monirul Islam said police raided a two-story house in Narayanganj district near Dhaka and killed the suspects early Saturday.
The dead included Tamim Chowdhury, a Bangladeshi-born Canadian, who police believe was one of two masterminds of the attack on a popular restaurant in Dhaka.
The militants belonged to the banned group Jumatul Mujahedeen Bangladesh, or JMB, Bangladesh's police chief A.K.M. Shahidul Hoque told reporters.
Chowdhury was the mastermind of the July 1 attack in Dhaka and another attack on an Eid congregation outside Dhaka on July 7 marking the end of the holy Muslim month of Ramadan, he said.
Bangladesh police have been conducting raids across the country to hunt those behind the attack.
ISIS had claimed responsibility for the restaurant attack, but authorities have insisted it was the act of the JMB and that ISIS has no presence in the Muslim-majority country.
The attack on the upscale Holey Artisan Bakery in Dhaka that killed 20 people, including 17 foreigners. The July 7 attack on the prayer gathering north of Dhaka left four people dead, including two police officers.