Sagar Biswas :The 12-hour Islamist militants-led hostage crisis at a Spanish restaurant in Dhaka ended in a bloodbath after a full-scale military operation conducted by the para commando unit of the Bangladesh Army on Saturday morning. Twenty bodies of local and foreign hostages, slaughtered by the militants, were recovered from the restaurant by the commandos after the operation. Among the victims, nine were identified as Italians, seven Japanese, three Bangladeshis and one Indian.A back-up team comprising members of Navy, Air Force, BGB, SWAT, RAB and Police took position around the restaurant at that time. The ‘Operation Thunderbolt’ lasted from 7.40am to 8.13am.Six of the attackers, claimed to be members of Islamic State, were shot dead during the 33-minute operation. An alleged militant was caught during the raid. A number of 13 hostages, including Bangladeshis, were rescued alive from the restaurant.In the three-dimensional rescue operation, the army commandos used armoured personnel carriers, sound grenades, sub-machineguns, assault rifles and sniper rifles. Besides, the navy commandos boarding speed boats were patrolling the adjacent lake while military choppers were roaming in the sky.When effort to communicate with militants went futile, the government high-ups decided to launch a pre-dawn assault to end the siege. But it took time to evacuate several establishments, including Embassies and international organizations, surrounding the restaurant. For that reason, the operation was started behind schedule. At 7:24am, the commando unit of army came to the spot boarding nine armoured personnel vehicles, eight jeeps and three lorries. Apart from it, over a dozen ambulances also kept park near the spot. At 8:15, Chief of Army Staff General Abu Belal Muhammad Shafiul Huq and Chief of Naval Staff Admiral Mohammad Nizamuddin Ahmed came to the spot. Besides, Director General of Rapid Action Battalion Benjir Ahmed and Director General of Fire Service and Civil Defence Brigadier General Ali Ahmed Khan were also seen there. The four-square kilometer area was cordoned by the law enforcement agencies putting blockades at different strategic points. The commandos took full-fledged control of the area at 8:30 am, officials said.The commandos recovered several pistols, folded butts, AK-22 rifles, unexploded IED [improvised explosive device] and sharp weapons from there. After completion of operation, a team of Forensic DNA laboratories of CID [Criminal Investigation Department] came to the spot at about 10:20am to collect evidence. The Inter Service Public Relations Directorate [ISPR] said that 20 bodies of the hostages were recovered from the Holey Artisan Bakery restaurant at Gulshan-2 in the city’s Diplomatic Zone which was attacked by armed Islamist militants on Friday night.Brig-Gen Nayeem Ashfaq Chowdhury, Director of Military Operations, Bangladesh Army, at a press conference held at the Army Headquarters yesterday afternoon, confirmed that 20 people were found killed using locally made sharp weapons.Confusion aroused over the number of death when reports of death of several Bangladeshi nationals were coming from different quarters.Of them, youngest son of Transcom Group Chairman Latifur Rahman’s grandson Faraz Hossain, former head of Dhaka Art Gallery Ishrat Akhond and Abinta Kabir, whose father is son of Manzur and Nilu Murshed of Lavender, a super store in Gulshan, were reportedly killed. When asked about the death of local hostages, Nayeem Ashfaq said, “They were all not foreign hostages. They were hacked to death with sharp weapons by the Islamist terrorists, known as ISIS. The victims had severe wounds to their necks and throats.””The head of government ordered the army to conduct operation to tackle the situation. In this backdrop, the ‘operation thunderbolt’ was launched,” he said. Sources said the majority of the victims were from Italy and Japan. No Americans or Britons have yet been confirmed among the casualties. Two Sri Lankans and one Japanese hostage were rescued, along with around a dozen Bangladeshis.A resident of Diplomatic Zone said that he saw snipers firing shots taking position on the rooftops of adjacent buildings. At the same time, heavy shells were also fired from armoured vehicles. At one stage, the armoured vehicles stormed the compound of Holey Artisan Bakery demolishing the boundary walls. A small shop, Piza Corner, adjacent to the restaurant, was also destructed. The entire area was rocked when commandos started operation blasting sound grenades and firing shots from assault rifles.After nine hours of operation, the bodies of slain foreigners and militants carrying in 13 ambulances were taken to Combined Military Hospital [CMH] in Dhaka for postmortem at about 4:00pm.Home Minister Asaduzzamn Khan Kamal said: “The militants took part in the attack in a pre-planned way. It was a blue print for creating anarchy in the country. Five of the six militants, killed in the gun attack, were earlier wanted by the police.” Earlier on Friday night, at least 50 persons, including Additional Police Commissioner Sheikh Md Maruf Hassan among 25 police personnel, were injured when a gang of seven armed militants blasted grenades and opened sporadic fire inside the restaurant.Of the injured, Assistant Police Commissioner of Detective Branch Rabiul Karim and Officer-in-Charge of Banani Police Station Salauddin Ahmed Khan succumbed to their injuries. The militants held hostage several people, including 20 foreigners. Members of the law enforcement agencies, including police, RAB, BGB and Ansar kept cordoned the spot till the operation started next morning.The Islamic State [Indian Subcontinent] claimed responsibility of the attack a few hours after the incident.
