Hostage describes Dhaka café siege, says some foreigners killed after gunmen takeover

A hostage, freed after an overnight siege at a café in Dhaka, said that the gunmen killed some of the foreigners soon after they barged in it on Friday night.

Staff Correspondentbdnews24.com
Published : 2 July 2016, 06:32 AM
Updated : 31 July 2016, 09:09 PM

Witnesses said eight to 10 men, one of them armed with a sword and the others carrying 'small firearms with big magazines' raided the place around 8:45pm on Friday.
 
The men shouted 'Allahu Akbar' (God is great) on their way in and started firing in the air with around 20 guests still inside - several of them foreigners, according to the restaurant’s supervisor Sumon Reza, who managed to escape.
 
But media reports suggest the figure was higher.
 
Hasnat Karim was one of those held hostage at the Holey Artisan Bakery and O Kitchen in Road No. 79 near Gulshan-2.
 
He went there with his wife Sharmin Parvin and two children.
 
After being under siege for almost 12 hours, they were rescued around 8am on Saturday after army commandos stormed the café, said Karim’s relatives, who waited outside the restaurant for the whole night.
 
Karim’s mother told bdnews24.com that seven Bangladeshis, an Indian citizen and 20 to 22 foreign nationals were inside when the gunmen entered.
 
They asked the Bangladeshi Muslims to recite from the Quran, she said. “Those who did, were given dinner. The gunmen treated Parvin (Karim’s wife) well as she was wearing a Hizab.”
 

Security officials leaving the café after the assault.

Monitoring group SITE Intelligence reported that Middle East based Islamic State claimed responsibility.
Bangladesh authorities, however, have been denying the group’s presence in the country.
Hasnat Karim returned to Bangladesh a year and half ago, after spending 20 years abroad. An engineer by profession, he had studied in the UK and the US.

His mother said that she was told by her son that the gunmen murdered some of the foreigners in the night.
   
Security officials have confirmed finding bodies inside the café, but did not provide details on the death toll.
 
RAB and police officials, however, said that five gunmen were killed in the raid.
 
“We have seen some bodies and blood marks in places,” a police official, asking not to be named, told bdnews24.com.
 
Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina said at a programme on Saturday morning that 13 people have been rescued alive.

She added that one of the gunmen was captured alive and six others were killed during the raid.

With a lawn inside the premises, the eatery at the diplomatic zone was popular among foreigners living in Bangladesh.

Police moved in soon after the siege began on Friday night leading to an exchange of fire, in which two police officers died.