Bangladesh police said Tuesday they had killed the chief of Jamayetul Mujahideen Bangladesh (JMB), an extremist group accused of murdering secular activists and inspiring a cafe siege that killed 22 people.
Khorshed Alam, described as the "emir" of Bangladesh's deadliest Islamist outfit, was gunned down early Tuesday morning in the northern town of Shibganj, police spokesman Sonaton Chokraborty said.
"He died before we could bring him to hospital," Chokraborty told AFP of the 38-year-old terrorist.
Police say Alam emerged after JMB's old guard was weakened by the execution of its former commander Shaikh Abdur Rahman, and five other top chiefs, in March 2007.
He is accused of masterminding a number of attacks across Muslim-majority Bangladesh, including most recently the murder of atheist writer and publisher Shahzahan Bachchu in the central district of Munshiganj in June.
He also spearheaded a daring ambush on a prison van in 2014 that allowed two senior JMB foot soldiers to escape, police said.
In recent years, a splinter faction inspired by JMB's earlier leadership grabbed headlines after five of its young members stormed an upmarket Dhaka cafe in July 2016 and murdered 22 people, including 18 foreigners.
Bangladesh police launched a massive crackdown on extremists since the cafe siege, killing more than 80 suspected Islamists and arresting hundreds more.
They included the alleged commanders of the new JMB faction.
JMB was founded by Bangladeshi radicals hardened from fighting in the Afghan civil war during the 1990s.
The returning extremists waged a campaign of violence across Bangladesh -- a secular democracy -- for nearly two decades, targeting religious minorities, foreign aid workers and liberal writers in bomb and knife attacks.
In BCCI's Strict Rule For Test Selection, Three India Stars Get Exception Bangladesh Orders Nationwide School Closures After Violent Student Protests 5 Killed, Hundreds Injured In Bangladesh Job Quota Protests Dubai Princess Shaikha Mahra Divorces Husband In Insta Post, Cites Reason In Massive Row Over Karnataka 100% Quota Bill, Chief Minister Deletes Post 25,000 Aspirants For Airport Jobs Paying Rs 22,000: A Mumbai Stampede Scare Prince Harry, Meghan Markle Break 64-Year Royal Tradition In Surprise Move Hyundai Exter vs Tata Punch: Which CNG Option Is Better On Paper? Trump's Fossil Fuel Agenda Gets Priority Over Climate Change At Convention Track Latest News Live on NDTV.com and get news updates from India and around the world.