Bangladesh commandos storm Gulshan restaurant, five hostages freed: Witnesses

Commandos have launched an assault to end the 11-hour-long hostage standoff at a cafe in Dhaka’s diplomatic zone Gulshan.

Gunshots and explosions rocked Gulshan during the raid on Saturday morning after gunmen stormed the Spanish restaurant on Friday.

Security forces moved in around 7:30am and five hostages, including women and children, were freed minutes after the raid had begun, a witness told bdnews24.com.

Heavy gunfire and explosions were heard after commandos and military personnel stormed the restaurant, where gunmen took at least 20 people, including foreigners, hostage.

A resident at a building, just 50 yards from the scene, reported spotting snipers firing from their guns.

Shots were being fired from armoured personnel carriers (APCs). Grenades were also apparently exploded.

bdnews24.com’s Chief Crimes Correspondent Liton Haider, who is at entrance to the street where the restaurant is located, said that he saw fire-fighters rushing to the scene with extinguishers, probably to put out flames from explosions.

According to a witness, who managed to escape from the restaurant, at least 20 people, including some foreigners, have been taken hostage, but media reports suggest the figure was higher.

It is yet unclear how many hostages are still inside and in what condition.

Japan’s Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga said his country had received confirmed reports of several Japanese nationals among the hostages in Dhaka.

He said a team was sent to Bangladesh to help the Japanese embassy in Dhaka and the government resolve the hostage crisis.

He said Japan believed ‘one of their closest friends’ Bangladesh would take all sorts of steps to suppress extremists.

Foreign Minister Fumio Kishida also extended sympathy over the incident.

A total of 906 Japanese nationals are currently in Bangladesh.