Will find out who supplied arms, explosives to Gulshan cafe attackers, PM Hasina tells Japanese minister

Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina says the government will find out ‘roots’ of the gunmen, who attacked a cafe in Gulshan and killed 20 people, mostly foreigners.

Her statement came on Sunday during a meeting with Japan’s State Minister of Foreign Affairs Seiji Kihara at her official residence Ganabhaban.

“Describing the terror attack at Gulshan cafe as ‘unfortunate,’ the prime minister said we must find out the roots of the culprits who supplied weapons and explosives to the terrorists for the barbaric attack,” Ihsanul Karim, press secretary to the PM, told the media after the meeting.

Holey Artisan Bakery and O’ Kitchen Restaurant at Dhaka’s upscale diplomatic heart of Gulshan, came under attack on Friday evening by gunmen who shouted ‘Allahu Akbar’ while launching the assault.

The assailants killed two police officers, who tried to enter the café, to break the siege.

Army commandos stormed the eatery on Saturday morning and rescued 13 hostages, killing six attackers and arresting another.

The Army said 20 people were found dead on the premises during the raid, all possibly slaughtered late on Friday, hours before the commandos 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.