Bangladesh mourns victims of terror attack at café

Bangladesh is observing a two-day national mourning for the victims of a terror attack at a café at the capital’s diplomatic zone.

Staff Correspondentbdnews24.com
Published : 3 July 2016, 06:39 AM
Updated : 31 July 2016, 09:08 PM

Flags have been hoisted at half-mast across the country after Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina announced the mourning on Saturday during an address to the nation.

Gunmen barged into the Holey Artisan Bakery and O’ Kitchen Restaurant, very popular among foreigners living in Bangladesh, and took hostage at least 33 diners.

Police rushed in soon after the terrorist takeover on Friday night, but the gunmen drove them back with a heavy volume of gunfire and grenades that killed two police officers.

The hostage standoff ended 12-hours later on Saturday morning, when the army commandos moved in.

Officials said, 13 hostages were rescued alive, but bodies of 20 people were found inside, all possibly slaughtered late on Friday, hours before the commando raided the café.

It has been confirmed that the hostages killed included nine Italians, seven Japanese and an Indian. Three Bangladeshis were also among the dead and one of them was a US citizen.