Bangladeshis behind café siege, international terrorist link investigated

Seven militants who killed 28 people, including 20 hostages, at a restaurant in Dhaka were local Bangladeshis and authorities had tried before to arrest five of them, police said, as investigators probed for possible links with international Islamist extremist groups.

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. Two days of national holiday mourning were announced after the attack.

Islamic State claimed responsibility of the attack, warning citizens of “crusader countries” their citizens would not be safe “as long as their aircraft are killing Muslims”, the group said in a statement. It also posted pictures of four fighters grinning in front of a black flag who it said were involved in the attack, according to the SITE monitoring website.

However, a senior Bangladeshi minister said the jihadists were members of a home-grown Bangladeshi militant outfit.

“They are members of the Jamaeytul Mujahdeen Bangladesh,” home minister Asaduzzaman Khan said, referring to a group which has been banned in Bangladesh for more than a decade.

“They have no connections with the Islamic State.”

Deputy inspector general of police, Shahidur Rahman, told authorities were investigating any connection between the attackers and trans-national groups such as Islamic State (IS) or al Qaeda but did not elaborate.

He said that the militants were mostly educated and from rich families, but declined to give any more details, while national police chief Shahidul Hoque said all the gunmen were Bangladeshi.

“Five of them were listed as militants and law enforcers made several drives to arrest them,” Hoque told reporters in Dhaka late on Saturday.

Friday night's attack, during the final days of the Muslim fasting month of Ramadan, was more coordinated than the previous assaults.

Gunmen singled out foreigners as soon as they stormed through the doors of the restaurant popular with expatriates. They ordered all Bangladeshis to stand up before the killing began, a source briefed on the investigation said. The Bangladeshis were later told to close their eyes and recite verses from the Koran and one militant cursed at a Bangladeshi for eating with non-Muslims during Ramadan, the source said.

The victims included Italian nationals, seven Japanese citizens, an American, as well as three Bangladeshis or people of Bangladeshi descent. The militants hacked most of their victims with machetes, leaving their bodies to bleed over the floor.

The 12-hour standoff with security forces ended when around 100 commandos stormed the building, killing six of the militants and capturing a seventh when attempts at negotiations proved fruitless, authorities said. They recovered explosives and sharp weapons from the scene.