Bangladesh commandos end cafe seige, rescue 13 hostages
DHAKA. KAZINFORM - At least 13 hostages were rescued and some are dead after Bangladesh security forces on Saturday stormed a cafe in Dhaka and ended a seize that lasted more than 11 hours, Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina said.
Hasina said six gunmen were killed and one was captured. She did not specify how many hostages died or were injured, or their nationalities, Kyodo reports.
The dawn raid was conducted by soldiers, paramilitary forces and elite police on the Holey Artisan Bakery, a popular cafe in the upscale Gulshan diplomatic zone of the capital.
Gun-wielding young men had entered it around 8:45 p.m. on Friday opening fire, hurling explosives and shouting "Allahu Akbar (God is great)." They took around 20 hostages, mostly foreigners.
Bangladesh police sources said the fatalities include two police officers.
Japanese Deputy Chief Cabinet Secretary Koichi Hagiuda told a press conference in Tokyo that a Japanese man was among the rescued hostages, but there are concerns about the fate of seven other Japanese who remain unaccounted for.
The Islamic State militant group has claimed responsibility for the attack.
Source: Kyodo
photo: democratherald.com/