Bangladeshi police prepare to storm restaurant where Islamist terrorists are holding 20 hostages - including foreigners - after shooting two officers dead in Dhaka
- WARNING: GRAPHIC CONTENT
- Up to nine gunmen entered, opened fire and hurled makeshift bombs
- Gunmen armed with 'pistols, swords and bombs', according to a witness
- Worker who escaped reported gunmen shouted 'Allahu Akbar' as they fired
- ISIS has claimed responsibility for the attack on the restaurant
- Several foreigners are among being held hostage inside, said police chief
- Two police officers injured in attack have been declared dead
THE STAR
Police are preparing to storm a restaurant in Bangladeshi capital Dhaka where Islamist gunmen connected with ISIS are holding around 20 hostages after they shot two officers dead in a shoot-out.
As many as nine gunmen entered the Holey Artisan restaurant and opened fire, unleashing at least 50 shots and hurling makeshift bombs.
The attackers are holding around 20 people hostage at gunpoint, including foreigners, inside the Spanish restaurant in the upmarket Gulshan area.
Police are preparing heavily-armoured vehicles in an attempt to storm the premises, which is also near to a hospital, and rescue those held inside.
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Police are locked in a shoot-out with gunmen at a restaurant in the diplomatic quarter of the Bangladeshi capital of Dhaka, that is popular with foreigners
People help an unidentified injured person after a group of gunmen attacked a restaurant popular with foreigners in a diplomatic zone of the Bangladeshi capital Dhaka
A staff member who managed to escape said the gunmen shouted 'Allahu Akbar' as they attacked the restaurant, shooting and throwing bombs
One local police station chief, Mohammed Salahuddin, who was earlier injured in the shoot-out, has been declared dead according to a top official at Dhaka Metropolitan Police.
A second policeman, Robiul Islam, assistant commissioner of Uttara zone Detective Branch, has also died in the shooting, top police officials confirmed.
Another 25 officers and one civilian are being treated for injuries from gunshots and shrapnel, with 10 people in a critical condition, according to hospital authorities.
One member of staff from the restaurant who managed to escape, Sumon Reza, told Bangladeshi newspaper The Daily Star: 'They blasted several crude bombs, causing wide-scale panic among everyone.
'I managed to flee during this confusion.'
He added: 'They came armed with pistols, swords and bombs. They shouted Allahu Akbar [God is great] before blasting the bombs.'
Early reports indicate that ISIS has claimed responsibility for the attack, according to SITE Intelligence Group.
It claimed ISIS' Amaq News Agency reported fighters from the Islamic State group had carried out the attack.
Mr Reza claimed an Argentinian and an Italian are among those being held hostage. A source at the Italian foreign ministry has supported the claim, although they said it is not yet clear how many Italians may be involved.
Another witness, who lives near to the restaurant, said he could hear gunfire and it 'looked quite bad'.
A police officer assists an injured colleague outside the Holey Artisan Bakery cafe, currently under a hostage siege by armed gunmen
Two police officers injured earlier in the shoot-out have been confirmed dead, according to local media reports
Members of Rapid Action Battalion (RAB) have surrounded the Spanish restaurant, as communications are believed to be underway in an attempt to save their lives of those inside
Bangladeshi security personnel stand guard after gunmen stormed a restaurant in Dhaka's high-security diplomatic district
One local police station chief, Mohammed Salahuddin, who was earlier injured in the shoot-out, has been declared dead according to a top official at Dhaka Metropolitan Police
Several foreigners have been confirmed to be among those held hostage inside the restaurant, after as many as nine gunmen 'armed with pistols, swords and bombs'
The attack is reported to have broken out at the Holey Artisan Bakery in the upmarket area of Gulshan, Dhaka
The restaurant is said to be popular with foreigners, and early reports indicate that there are several among those being held hostage inside (file image inside the restaurant - no indication those pictured are involved)
The US Embassy in Dhaka said on its Twitter feed there were 'reports of shooting and hostage situation'.
It warned people in the area to 'please shelter in place and monitor news'.
The US State Department said that it was too early to say who was involved or what the motivation might be, but it confirmed that all Americans working at the US mission there had been accounted for.
'We have accounted for all Americans working for the chief of mission authority,' State Department spokesman John Kirby told a press briefing.
He said the situation was 'very fluid, very live'.
Benazir Ahmed, director general of the elite anti-crime force Rapid Action Battalion or RAB, told reporters at 6.20pm GMT that security forces were working to save the lives of the people trapped inside.
'Some derailed youths have entered the restaurant and launched the attack. We have talked to some of the people who fled the restaurant after the attack,' he said.
'We want to resolve this peacefully. We are trying to talk to the attackers, we want to listen to them about what they want.
A massive contingent of security guards has cordoned off the building, and it making plans to storm it with heavily-armoured vehicles
One witness, a staff member who escaped the restaurant, said the gunmen shouted 'Allahu Akbar' as they launched the attack
The shooting is reported to have started at around 4.20pm GMT – 9.20pm local time - when as many as nine gunmen stormed the popular restaurant. Pictured, officers in the Gulshan area of the city
The Holey Artisan restaurant is near the Nordic Club, where expatriates of Nordic nations gather, and the Qatar embassy
'Some of our people have been injured. Our first priority is to save the lives of the people trapped inside.'
He would not confirm how many people were trapped inside the restaurant.
The Washington-based Overseas Security Advisory Council has tweeted that it is monitoring the situation.
It said: 'If in Dhaka, continue to shelter in place. Monitor local media and follow instructions of local authorities.'
President Barack Obama has been briefed about the attack, the White House said.
'The president asked to be kept informed as the situation develops,' a White House official said.
The shooting is reported to have started at around 4.20pm GMT – 9.20pm local time.
The Holey Artisan restaurant is near the Nordic Club, where expatriates of Nordic nations gather, and the Qatar embassy.
Bangladesh has seen a series of attacks, mostly using machetes, targeting bloggers, atheists and religious minorities (file image of the Gulshan area of Dhaka)
Bangladesh has seen a series of attacks, mostly using machetes, targeting bloggers, atheists and religious minorities.
The shoot-out follows the murder of a Hindu temple worker on Friday morning, who was hacked to death in Bangladesh's southwestern district of Jhenaidah by suspected Islamic militants.
Shyamananda Das was killed by three men on a motorcycle in an early morning attack as he walked on a highway adjacent to his temple.
Police said no group claimed responsibility of the attack, but it bore the hallmarks of recent murders of religious minorities by suspected homegrown Islamists.
The United States and Bangladesh have promised more cooperation against violent extremism in the Muslim-majority nation.
But the two governments remain unwilling to confirm ideas on whether ISIS is behind the mounting bloodshed.
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