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Two suspected female militants surrender as Bangladeshi security forces raid a hideout of a banned Islamist group Jamaatul Mujahideen Bangladesh (JMB) on Saturday after Intel there was a cache of explosives hidden.

Two suspected female militants have surrendered as Bangladeshi security forces raided a hideout of a banned Islamist group in Dhaka’s Ashkona neighbourhood, police said on Saturday News Next reports.

Three more suspected militants are staying inside the home despite the law enforcement calling them to surrender, said Dhaka Metropolitan Police (DMP) Commissioner Asaduzzaman Mia.

''We are informed that the militants had stockpiled huge explosives inside the hideout. We are trying to make them surrender,'' the city police boss said. The raid began in the early hours of the day.

One of the female militants surrendered is identified as Shila, wife of retired major Jahid who was killed in an earlier raid, while the other is wife of another terrorist Musa.

Musa is on the run.

They surrendered along with two children. The female suspects also deposited a pistol, six bullets and explosives.

''The suspects were taken to detective branch office in Dhaka and the process for interrogation has been started,'' Mia said adding that the law enforcement agencies have been trying to negotiate a surrender of the militants staying inside the den.

Acting on tip-off, the lawmen cordoned off ,Surya Villa’ ,a three-storied building near Hajicamp at city’s Ashkona neighbourhood, said Monirul Islam, head of Bangladesh’s counter terrorism unit of police.

Members of Counter Terrorism and Transnational unit, elite force Rapid Action Battalion, Special Weapons and Tactics, and police launched the operation inside the den where the suspects had been holed up for months.

The officer said that the lawmen, using megaphone, asked the militants to surrender after they cordoned off the home. But, the militants fired their guns stead, prompting the cops to retaliate with bullets.

Ambulances and fire services officials were seen on the scene.

The militants are believed to be belonged to the banned militant group Jamaatul Mujahideen Bangladesh (JMB).

Residents of the other apartments of the building have been evacuated to run the drive safely, said Islam adding that the suspects declared initially that they would resist any raid with the powerful grenades as they were carrying them with their bodies.

The female militants and the children surrendered about at 9:30 am after the lawmen told them to come out from the building using megaphones.

The militant group was banned in 2005 after it carried out a number of attacks on public offices. The group was blamed for the deadly July 1 attack on a restaurant in Dhaka that left 20 civilians, mostly foreign nationals, dead.

Two security personnel and six militants were also killed when army commandos stormed the Holey Artisan Bakery in Dhaka’s Gulshan diplomatic area to rescue the hostages.

Police have killed at least 40 suspected militants, including a Bangladeshi-born Canadian man, in the last five months as part of counter-terrorism raids launched after the cafe attack.

In an unprecedented diplomatic rebuke of Israel, the United States abstained Friday on a United Nations Security Council resolution demanding an end to Israeli settlements, allowing the highly charged measure to pass.

The resolution was approved 14-0 with the one abstention. The vote was greeted with loud applause in the packed Security Council chamber.

The measure demands Israel "immediately and completely cease all settlement activities in the occupied Palestinian territory, including East Jerusalem." It declares the establishment of settlements by Israel has "no legal validity and constitutes a flagrant violation under international law."

In abstaining, the U.S. brushed aside calls for a veto by president-elect Donald Trump who, in an unprecedented move, managed to delay the vote a day by weighing in with Egypt, the initial sponsor of the resolution.

In a tweet after the vote, Trump offered his reaction to the outcome: "As to the U.N., things will be different after Jan. 20th."

U.S. Ambassador to the U.N. Samantha Power, in remarks to the council after the vote, said the U.S. position on the settlements has remained unchanged for five decades, and quoted a 1982 statement by then-President Ronald Reagan, which declared Washington ''will not support the use of any additional land for the purpose of settlements.''

"The U.S. has been sending the message that the settlements must stop, privately and publicly, for five decades," Power said.

Settlement activity, she added, ''harms the viability of a negotiated two-state outcome and erodes prospects for peace and stability in the region.''

At the same time, she said, "Our vote does not in any way diminish our steadfast and unparalleled commitment to the security of Israel." Israel, she noted, "faces very serious threats in a very tough neighborhood."

In a statement issued by his office, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said, "Israel rejects this shameful anti-Israel resolution at the U.N. and will not abide by its terms."

"At a time when the Security Council does nothing to stop the slaughter of half a million people in Syria, it disgracefully gangs up on the one true democracy in the Middle East, Israel, and calls the Western Wall 'occupied territory.'"

Netanyahu, whose relations with President Obama have been decidedly strained over the past eight years, said the U.S. administration "not only failed to protect Israel against this gang-up at the U.N., it colluded with it behind the scenes."

"Israel looks forward to working with President-elect Trump and with all our friends in Congress, Republicans and Democrats alike, to negate the harmful effects of this absurd resolution," the statement said.

The American Jewish Congress also expressed dismay with the move.

"In the strongest terms possible, the American Jewish Congress is deeply disappointed with the Obama administration for shamefully abstaining on today's anti-Israel UN Security Council resolution," the group said in a statement. "By the U.S. abstaining, President Obama abandoned long standing American foreign policy of vetoing one-sided resolutions against Israel at the United Nations, and in doing so, he steps away from his presidency, turning his back on the unbreakable bond with our great ally Israel."

At the U.N., Israeli ambassador Danny Danon criticized the U.S. abstention, saying he has "no doubt" the Trump administration will usher in a new era. In remarks to the council, he said Jews have conquered many obstacles in the past, and "we will overcome this evil decree, too."

Pro-Israel lobby AIPAC said it was "deeply disturbed" the Obama Administration declined to veto what it called a "destructive, one-sided, anti-Israel resolution."

"By adopting this resolution, the United Nations has once again served as an open forum to isolate and delegitimize Israel — America’s lone stable, democratic ally in the Middle East," AIPAC said in a statement.

Read an equally bristling statement from the Central Conference of American Rabbis, the rabbinic arm of the United States reform movement, "The CCAR has frequently criticized the current Israeli settlement policy as an obstacle to peace.  At the same time, the United Nations is not the arena in which to address these complex issues. Peace negotiations belong between the two parties involved.  Further, the UN's obsessive and relentless criticism of Israel, while ignoring the unspeakable repression committed by illegitimate regimes and terrorist organizations worldwide, falsely and maliciously labels Israel uniquely as a pariah state."

Palestinian authority ambassador to the U.N. Riyad Mansour thanked the council for the vote and said he believes it could contribute to prospects for peace talks. The resolution, he said, "may rightly be seen as a last attempt to preserve the two-state solution and revive the path for peace, to keep the hope alive."

Although Egypt withdrew the measure Thursday, co-sponsors New Zealand, Malaysia, Venezuela and Senegal requested the vote take place Friday. To pass, it needed nine "aye" votes and no veto from a permanent council member — the United States, France, Russia, Britain or China.

In the past, the U.S. has vetoed a similar resolution, which Israel strongly opposes.

White House officials said the administration's decision not to veto is consistent with its long-standing opposition to Israeli settlements, calling them an incitement to violence and an impediment to peace.

The United Nations resolution "makes clear that both Israel and the Palestinians have to take steps to preserve the two-state solution," said Ben Rhodes, deputy national security adviser for strategic communications.

Rhodes said the U.S. had nothing to do with the U.N. resolution, and that the Obama administration has been warning Israel for years that settlements were increasing its international "isolation."

As for Trump's tweet, Rhodes said Obama remains in charge until Jan. 20. "There is one president at a time," he said.

While the resolution does not call for sanctions on Israel, it amounts to a high-profile rebuke of the Israeli government and could hamper Israel's negotiating position in future peace talks. Palestinians argue that the expansion of settlements on the disputed land makes a peace deal even less likely.

Under international law, Israeli settlements — built on Palestinian land occupied by Israel — are considered to be illegal. Some 600,000 Israelis live in east Jerusalem and on the West Bank, which the Palestinians seek as part of a future independent state. Israel captured both areas in the 1967 Mideast war.

Israel argues the final status of the territories should be determined in any future talks on Palestinian statehood.

Trump slams UN resolution on Israeli settlements

Trump, who does not take office until Jan. 20, had issued a statement Thursday calling for a U.S. veto only hours before the initially scheduled vote.

Trump spokesman Sean Spicer said the Republican president-elect spoke with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi about the proposed Security Council action Thursday.

On Friday, Sisi's spokesman said the two leaders agreed to allow Trump's incoming administration a chance to take up the issue.

"During the call, they discussed regional affairs and developments in the Middle East, and in that context the draft resolution in front of the Security Council on Israeli settlement," said spokesman Alaa Yousef.

"The presidents agreed on the importance of affording the new U.S. administration the full chance to deal with all dimensions of the Palestinian case with a view of achieving a full and final settlement.

A senior Palestinian official, speaking anonymously according to protocol, said Egypt didn’t consult with the Palestinians about delaying the vote and it was a “complete shock” for them, AP reports. Egypt represents Arab states on the security council.

Egypt is the first Arab country to make peace with Israel, with whom it shares close security ties in a joint struggle against Islamic militants.

The Berlin truck attack suspect was shot dead by police in Milan this morning.

Anis Amri, 24, pulled out a gun after being stopped by cops at 3am local time and was killed in a shootout, officials say.

The Tunisian national was suspected of driving a truck into a packed Christmas market on Monday, killing 12 people and injuring 48.

There is 'absolutely no doubt' that the man gunned down by officers today was Amri, Italian interior minister Marco Minniti said at a news conference.

A police source said earlier the suspect was identified by his fingerprints.

The Islamic State has acknowledged death of the Berlin Christmas market attacker, according to a posting by its Amaq news agency.

''The executor of the Berlin attacks carries out another attack on Italian police in Milan and is killed in a shoot-out,'' the statement said.

It comes as the German Federal Police Office has released a new picture of Amri.

After hours of tense negotiations, two Libyans who hijacked a plane from Libya to Malta and threatened to blow it up surrendered peacefully Friday, allowing 118 passengers and crew to leave the plane before walking out themselves with the last of the crew.

The hijacked Airbus A320 flight, operated by Afriqiyah Airways, was traveling from the Libyan oasis city of Sabha to Tripoli when it was diverted to Malta midmorning on Friday.

Malta state television TVM said the two hijackers had hand grenades and had threatened to explode them. All flights to Malta International Airport were immediately diverted and emergency teams including negotiators were sent to the airport tarmac.

Malta’s prime minister, Joseph Muscat, announced that the hijacking of the Libyan plane was over in a tweet at 3:44 p.m. local time.

Islamic State has claimed responsibility for the truck attack in Berlin reports Reuters quoting group’s news agency Amaq.

“A soldier of the Islamic State carried out the Berlin operation in response to appeals to target citizens of coalition countries,” said the Islamic State linked Amaq news agency.

The truck on Monday ploughed into a Christmas market killing 12 and injuring 50 others.

The incident took place near a famous Berlin landmark – the Gedaechtniskirche or memorial church.

Earlier today, the Federal prosecutors released a man taken into custody, saying no evidence was found against him.

Germany is on high alert and the authorities are still searching for the attackers.

According to German officials, in Berlin the man in charge of the lorry ride has been detained, he has been left by the absence of sufficient evidence.

Media identified the man as Naved B is said to be Pakistani.

In this attack, 12 people were killed and 50 people were injured.

German authorities say they have enough evidence to make a case against him have not met.

Earlier, federal prosecutor Peter Frank told to reporters in Berlin that the attack is similar to an Islamist attack.

The man arrested in Berlin on charges of assault, has been denied his any involvement.

The man came to Germany from Pakistan last year. He was detained near a park of attack.

German Chancellor Angela Merkel paid tribute to those killed in the attack, said that those responsible for this attack will be punished severely.

The suspect in the truck attack that killed 12 people at a busy Berlin Christmas market came from Pakistan and had applied for asylum in Germany, the country's top security official said Tuesday.

Interior Minister Thomas de Maiziere said the suspect, who denies involvement, entered Germany on December 31 last year and arrived in Berlin in February.

German Chancellor Angela Merkel described herself as "shocked, shaken and deeply saddened" after what she said the government must assume was a "terrorist attack." De Maiziere said that as far as officials know, the Islamic State group has not claimed responsibility.

In addition to those killed, nearly 50 people were injured when the truck plowed into the popular Christmas market filled with tourists and locals outside the Kaiser Wilhelm Memorial Church near Berlin's Zoo station late Monday.

"There is still a lot that we don't know about this act with sufficient certainty," Merkel told reporters in Berlin, in her first personal statement following the incident. "But we must, as things stand, assume it was a terrorist attack."

Merkel, who has been criticized for allowing in large numbers of migrants, addressed head-on the possibility that an asylum-seeker was responsible.

"I know that it would be particularly hard for us all to bear if it were confirmed that a person committed this act who asked for protection and asylum in Germany," Merkel said. "This would be particularly sickening for the many, many Germans who work to help refugees every day and for the many people who really need our help and are making an effort to integrate in our country."

Authorities arrested a man about 2 kilometres from the crash site on suspicion of having been at the wheel of the truck. Footage showed the suspect, his head covered in a white sheet, being pushed into a police car shortly after the attack. Berlin's Tagesspiegel newspaper reported that the man was known to police for minor crimes.

A spokesman for Berlin's office for refugee affairs said police conducted a large-scale search overnight at a large shelter for asylum-seekers at the city's now-defunct Tempelhof airport. Four men in their late 20s were questioned but nobody was arrested, Sascha Langenbach told The Associated Press.

Among the dead was a man in the truck, who succumbed as paramedics treated him, Berlin police spokesman Winfried Wenzel said. Police said later that the man was a Polish national, but didn't give further details of who he was or what happened to him.

The Polish owner of the truck said he feared the vehicle may have been hijacked. Ariel Zurawski said he last spoke with the driver, his cousin, around noon, and the driver told him he was in Berlin and scheduled to unload Tuesday morning. "They must have done something to my driver," he told TVN24.

Germany has not so far experienced any mass-casualty attacks by Islamic extremists, but has been increasingly wary since two attacks by asylum-seekers in the summer that were claimed by the Islamic State group. Five people were wounded in an axe rampage on a train near Wuerzburg and 15 in a bombing outside a bar in Ansbach, both in the southern state of Bavaria. Both attackers were killed.

Those attacks, and two others unrelated to Islamic extremism in the same weeklong period, contributed to tensions in Germany over the arrival last year of 890,000 migrants.

Far-right groups and a nationalist party seized on Monday's attack, blaming Merkel for what had happened.

"Under the cloak of helping people Merkel has completely surrendered our domestic security," Frauke Petry, the co-chairwoman of the Alternative for Germany party, wrote.

Manfred Weber, a member of Merkel's conservative bloc and leader of the European Parliament's biggest political grouping, cautioned against sweeping verdicts but said it was important to ensure that extremists didn't enter the country.

The German government said Merkel spoke Tuesday with President Barack Obama, who expressed his condolences. In Washington, White House National Security Council spokesman Ned Price said the United States was ready to help in the investigation and response.

U.S. President-elect Donald Trump said Islamic extremists must be "eradicated from the face of the earth" and pledged to carry out that mission with all "freedom-loving partners."

The attack came less than a month after the U.S. State Department warned that extremist groups including Islamic State and al-Qaida were focusing "on the upcoming holiday season and associated events" in Europe.

The Islamic State group and al-Qaida have both called on followers to use trucks in particular to attack crowds. On July 14, a truck plowed into Bastille Day revelers in the southern French city of Nice, killing 86 people. Islamic State claimed responsibility for that attack, which was carried out by a Tunisian living in France.

Merkel said Monday's attack would not cause Germany to live in fear.

"Even if it's difficult at this hour we will find the strength to live life the way we want to live it in Germany. Free, together and openly," she said.