At least 13 hostages, including three foreigners, were rescued alive from a popular restaurant in Dhaka’s diplomatic quarter early on Saturday morning, after police and army commandos stormed the venue to end an overnight siege triggered when the restaurant was overrun by heavily armed terrorists.
Among those recused from the Holey Artisan Bakery restaurant in the upscale Gulshan neighborhood were a Japanese citizen and two Sri Lankan nationals. At least six of the attackers were killed when Bangladeshi forces moved in to end a standoff with the gunmen that began late on Friday evening. Earlier, two policemen died following a gun battle with the attackers.
The country’s Prime Minister, Sheikh Hasina, said one terrorist had been captured alive. “Because of the effort of the joint force, the terrorists could not flee,” she said in a nationally televised speech after the siege ended early on Saturday morning.
The full details of the attack, including the number of people held captive at the restaurant, remain unclear. At least seven Japanese nationals thought to have been dining at the restaurant on Friday remain unaccounted for, according to a Japanese government official who spoke to the Associated Press news agency. Hasina said the police were unable to save all the hostages.
Earlier, ISIS took credit for the raid. “Islamic State commandos attack a restaurant frequented by foreigners in the city of Dhaka,” the ISIS-linked Aamaq news service said.
