India's NSG travels to Bangladesh to study terror strikes

A special team of National Security Guard (NSG) officers will be travelling to Bangladesh to "analyse and study" the bombings at an Eid prayer gathering today and the recent terror siege at a high-end restaurant in the neighbouring country.

Officials said the team of NSG officers had been authorised by the government to travel to Dhaka after the Special Forces establishment in Bangladesh approved the formers' request to visit the spots of the terror attacks for a first-hand understanding of the situation.

The team, which includes NSG experts in post-blast analysis and counter-terror operations, will study the July 1 incident where terrorists laid siege at a bakery and killed 22 and also analyse today's bombings in Kishoreganj area in Bangladesh.

They said NSG wanted to study the scenario, in coordination with their Bangladeshi counterparts, as getting an insight into them will not only enhance counter-terror cooperation between the two neighbours but also add value to the operations knowledge of the elite Commando Force.

NSG is the federal counter-terror and counter-hijack commando action force of the country that was raised in 1984.

The team, it is understood, will be in Dhaka over the coming weekend and will gather leads for "analysis and study" of the two terror incidents.

Officials said NSG teams have travelled to some other friendly countries in the past as part of their charter to effectively prepare against terrorist incidents.

Radical Islamists today hurled crude bombs and engaged in a shootout with police in Bangladesh, leaving a police officer and a terrorist dead at Sholakia in northern Kishoreganj district where at least 200,000 people had gathered for Eid prayers.

The latest incident comes after last week's deadly attacks in Dhaka which killed 22 people mainly foreigners including an Indian girl.