Saturday, July 2, 2016

26 killed in Dhaka cafe seige including six armed attackers

The attack on a cafe in the Bangladeshi capital has left 26 people dead including six armed attackers, the Bangladesh army has said.

Army Brigadier General Naim Asraf Chowdhury told a news conference 13 people were rescued including one Japanese and two Sri Lankans.

It is believed that the hostages that died were Italian and Japanese.

The army concluded an operation to clear the cafe after a 12-hour siege that began when gunmen stormed the restaurant, which was popular with foreigners, last night.

Earlier, Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina has said that one gunman had been captured alive in a dawn raid on the cafe by Bangladeshi commandos.

"It was an extremely heinous act. What kind of Muslims are these people? They don't have any religion," she said in a televised speech.

"People must resist these terrorists. My government is determined to root out terrorism and militancy from Bangladesh."

Gunmen attacked the upscale cafe in the diplomatic area of Dhaka late yesterday and had been holding about 20 hostages, before police poured into the building to try to free those stuck inside.

At least two police were killed.

Lieutenant Colonel Masood of the Rapid Action Battalion told India's Times Now TV channel that he believed between six and ten gunmen had stormed the restaurant.

Just metres from the scene, relatives and friends waited to hear about their loved ones.

"Last night when I heard about the incident I instantly called my brother-in-law who was working in the restaurant and I was able to talk with him until nine o'clock last night.

"There was nothing after that. His phone is switched off. We don't know what happened to him," one man said.
 [rte.ie]
2/7/16
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1 comment:

  1. Geiselnahme in Bangladesch endet mit 20 toten Zivilisten...

    Sicherheitskräfte haben am Samstag die Geiselnahme in einem bei Ausländern beliebten Restaurant in Bangladeschs Hauptstadt Dhaka beendet. Sechs der vermutlich bis zu zehn Angreifer seien bei der Erstürmung getötet worden, sagte Armeesprecher Rashidul Hasan. Zu dem Überfall bekannte sich die Extremisten-Miliz Islamischer Staat (IS).

    "Der Einsatz ist beendet. Die Lage ist vollständig unter Kontrolle", sagte Hasan. Derzeit werde das Gebiet rund um das Restaurant nach weiteren Tätern abgesucht. Neben den sechs Attentätern wurden auch 20 Zivilisten getötet worden. Auch zwei Polizisten zählen zu den Opfern. Das teilte ein Militärsprecher Samstag Mittag (Ortszeit) mit. Die Sicherheitskräfte hätten insgesamt 13 Geiseln in Sicherheit gebracht, unter ihnen drei Ausländer, berichteten TV-Sender.

    Am späten Freitagabend hatten mutmaßliche Islamisten das vorwiegend von ausländischen Gästen frequentierte Restaurant in dem Diplomatenviertel gestürmt, Sprengsätze gezündet, und bis zu 20 Geiseln genommen. Rund zehn Stunden später begannen mehr als 100 Polizisten eine Befreiungsaktion, bei der es zu heftigen Schusswechseln kam. Die dem IS nahestehende Nachrichtenagentur Amaq meldete, "mehr als 20 Menschen unterschiedlicher Nationalität" seien getötet worden.
    (APA/Reuters/AFP)

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