Five killed in assault to free Bangladesh terror attack hostages were militants: Govt

The home minister has confirmed that five of the persons killed in the commando blitz to rescue hostages during the bloody Dhaka cafe siege are militants.

One of the persons, whose photos police released as being the militants, has already been identified by his family as Saiful Islam Chowkider, a chef of the Holey Artisan Bakery and O’ Kitchen.

Police did not clear the issue.

Reuters said the confusion over exactly how many gunmen were involved was “at least partly cleared up” on Tuesday, when police named Chowkider as among the six people security forces killed when they stormed the building to end a 12-hour stand-off.

"He may not be involved," Saiful Islam, a police official investigating the attack, told Reuters, adding Chowkider's death was still being investigated.

The news agency said it saw Chowkider's name was included among 21 hostages killed by attackers in the police filing.

Home Minister Asaduzzaman Khan Kamal, however, did not specifically name Holey pizza maker Saiful.

He told a news conference on Tuesday that 13 hostages had been rescued and 26 bodies found after the operation on Saturday morning.

Of the 26 found dead, 17 were foreigners and three Bangladeshis, including one with US passport.

“It was assumed initially that the six other bodies were of the terrorists but later five could be identified,” Kamal said.

“Their parents have identified them. We have evidence that they were militants,” he said.

He also said a case had been started against five persons under the Anti Terrorism Act over the attack.

No person resembling Saiful was in the photos of five Dhaka cafe gunmen reportedly released by Islamic State.

Police identified five slain terrorists as ‘Akash’, ‘Bikash’, ‘Don’, ‘Bandhon’, and ‘Ripon’.

They did not publish the photo of an attacker as his face was distorted.