Bangladesh: Hostage crisis ends; 6 gunmen killed, 13 hostages rescued

Mangalore Today News Network

Dhaka, July 02, 2016: Bangladesh security forces ended a siege on Saturday at a cafe in Dhaka where dozens of diners were being held captive and shot dead six of the hostage-takers, officials said. A news agency run by Islamic State said the militant group`s affiliates were responsible for the attack in Bangladesh.

Talking to Times Now, Tuhin Mohammad Masud, a commander of the elite Rapid Action Battalion which stormed the cafe, said 13 hostages have been rescued. "Three of them are foreigners and 10 locals."


India is closely monitoring the Bangladesh hostage crisis even as officials maintained that so far all Indian High Commission staffers in Dhaka were reportedly safe.

Bangladesh hostage crisis has ended after a commando operation. "The operation is over. The situation is completely under control," Army spokesman Colonel Rashidul Hasan told AFP. Meanwhile, Tuhin Mohammad Masud, a commander of the elite Rapid Action Battalion which stormed the cafe, told Times Now channel that there had been a number of casualties, including six hostage-takers. "

India has, meanwhile, called for quick action to adopt the long-stalled Comprehensive Convention on International Terrorism (CCIT) and expressed disappointment that the United Nations General Assembly failed to push for its early adoption.

The US has said it cannot yet confirm the Islamic State terror group’s claim owning responsibility for the hostage crisis in a Dhaka restaurant. "We have seen ISIL (ISIS) claims of responsibility, but cannot yet confirm and are assessing the information available to us," State Department spokesman John Kirby said. According to CNN, senior US officials believe that the attack has been probably carried out by Al Qaeda in Indian Sub-continent, which was declared as a terrorist organisation by the US only a day earlier.