Bangladesh on Sunday mourned the victims of the horrific terrorist attack on a Dhaka cafe that left 22 persons, dominantly foreigners including an Indian, dead and the nation traumatized.
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Authorities released the first names of the five attackers earlier today – Akash, Badhon, Bikash, Don and Ripon – who are all said to come from “rich” Bangladeshi families.
Police Inspector General A.K.M. Shahidul Hoque, however, said authorities were investigating the possibility the attackers might also have had ties to the Islamic State.
So the storming of the restaurant, taking diners hostages, apparently singling out foreigners for death and then fighting a gun battle to the finish marked a new level of sophistication and scale, anti-terrorism officials and security experts said.
The attack has also been condemned by other countries, including Pakistan and Malaysia, while the European Union has also voiced condemnation.
Taj Hashmi, a Bangladeshi who teaches security studies at the Austin Peay State University in the USA, said there could be “no ambiguity” that the attack was the work of IS.
Witnesses recounted how a massive gunfight erupted on Saturday morning as more than 100 commandos launched the rescue operation, almost 11 hours after the siege began at around 9:30 pm. Hasina announced two official days of mourning following the attack, and appeared to address not only the Dhaka siege but a string of hacking murders nationwide targeting LGBT writers, secular thinkers, and those publicly critical of Islam. “It is deeply disturbing to hear that two of the victims of the most recent attacks are Emory University students…keeping Abinta Kabir, Faraaz Hossain, and their loved ones in our thoughts and prayers during this awful time”, Perdue said. According to The Associated Press, the hostages were tested on reciting verses from the Quran, and those who did not pass were slain. “The terrorists used sharp weapons to kill them brutally”, said Brig.
The gunmen, initially firing blanks, ordered restaurant workers to switch off the lights, and they draped black cloths over closed-circuit cameras, according to a survivor.
Italian Foreign Minister Paolo Gentiloni Silveri said the bodies of 9 Italians have been identified. A seventh man was arrested and is still being questioned.
The government has insisted the attacks were carried out by Jamaat-ul-Mujahideen Bangladesh, a domestic terror group.
The victims include four men and five women, one of whom was pregnant.
The gunmen stormed the upmarket restaurant in the diplomatic zone late on Friday, before killing non-Muslim hostages, including at least nine Italians, seven Japanese and an American.
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Two policemen were also killed in a shootout with the assailants at the beginning of the 12-hour assault.
