Dhaka cafe cleared of gunmen, commandos search area

chika ebuzor

July 2, 2016 6:16 PM

Local TV channels said at least 10 people, including two foreigners, had been rescued from the cafe, which gunmen attacked late on Friday.

Bangladesh Attacks

Bangladeshi commandos on Saturday cleared a besieged cafe in Dhaka of gunmen who had earlier captured hostages inside the building, an army official told Indian television, as security forces searched the surrounding area for more attackers.

Lieutenant Colonel Masood of the Rapid Action Battalion told India's Times Now TV channel that he believed between six and 10 gunmen had stormed the restaurant in Dhaka's diplomatic area on Friday.

Six were killed by security forces and commandos, he said.

"We have gunned down six. We are searching the area around," Masood said.

One foreigner, probably Japanese, escaped from a restaurant in the Bangladeshi capital on Saturday after police stormed the building to free 20 people trapped inside by gunmen, a police official said.

Local TV channels said at least 10 people, including two foreigners, had been rescued from the cafe, which gunmen attacked late on Friday. This could not immediately be confirmed.

Mizanur Rahman Bhuiyan, a deputy director at the Rapid Action Battalion force, told Reuters the foreigner escaped after more than 100 commandos launched an operation to secure the upmarket cafe in Dhaka.

chika ebuzor