28 lost lives including 6 gunmen end Gulshan Hostage Crisis

MNA Editorial Desk: 28 lost lives including 6 gunmen, 20 hostages and 2 police officers ends Gulshan Hostage Crisis on Saturday morning.

Twenty hostages, all foreigners, had been slaughtered by gunmen long before the rescue operation was launched Saturday morning at the captured restaurant, a Bangladesh army spokesperson said. He said the killings were probably done on the Friday night.

In spite of the declaration of all 20 killed hostages to be foreigners, it has been later demanded at several media that, at least four Bangladeshis were also killed as hostage. Few media also disclosed the names of these demised unfortunate Bangladeshis. But it is not sure if that would increase the death toll or will decrease the previously claimed number of foreigners killed.

“We have found 20 bodies and all of them were murdered in the night using sharp weapons,” Brigadier General Nayeem Ashfaq Chowdhury told a media briefing on Saturday. All 20 were foreign nationals, added Brig. Gen. Chowdhury, the director of military operations at Bangladesh Army.

He said that 13 people, including one Japanese and two Sri Lankans, were rescued from the restaurant after commandos stormed it on Saturday morning. The commandos took less than 15 minutes to complete the operation, which is commendable ignoring the facts of death toll.

“In the wake of the situation, the head of the government instructed the army to conduct a raid, when the Bangladesh Army chalked out Operation Thunderbolt,” said Brigadier General Chowdhury.

Brig. Gen. Chowdhury said, “Within 12 to 13 minutes our men were able to take out the terrorists and took total control.” He also added that, there were seven attackers, one of whom was captured alive, and the rest six were killed during the assault.

The gunmen charged into the restaurant in the Gulshan diplomatic zone around 8:45 on Friday night and took the guests inside hostage. The hostage standoff ended almost 12 hours later after army commandos initiated ‘Operation Thunderbolt’ on Saturday morning to free the hostages.

The operation we can guess was of aggressive nature but capturing one gunman alive can be a critical success factor of the operation.

“The para commandos started their operation at 7:40am, which successfully ended at 8:30am,” said Brigadier General Chowdhury. He said those killed by the attackers were foreigners but did not disclose their identity.

All the dead bodies were taken to the Combined Medical Hospital (CMH). “Autopsies will be conducted at the Combined Military Hospital on all the dead bodies,” said Brigadier General Chowdhury. He advised to contact the army’s Provost Marshal over phone at +8801769012524 for any query on the identity of the deceased hostages.

The raid concluded with twenty foreign nationals killed by attackers; thirteen hostages, including three foreigners rescued alive; Six of the gunmen killed during the raid, one captured alive.

With a lawn inside the premises, the Holey Artisan Bakery was a restaurant at Road No. 79 near Gulshan-2, which was popular among foreigners living in Bangladesh.

After it was captured by the gunmen, police moved in immediately leading to an exchange of fire, in which two police officers died. Soon after, the Rapid Action Battalion sealed off the area. Later the commando group of Army conducted the raid.

Four pistols, an AK-22 semi-automatic assault rifle, four unexploded IEDs (improvised explosive devices), several sharp weapons were recovered from the site.

Army, navy and air force personnel joined police and RAB at the scene early morning Saturday. The commandos stormed the restaurant and neutralized the attackers within less than 15 minutes. The bodies of 20 foreigners were found after a search was conducted.

Five hours after the hostage crisis begun, monitoring group SITE Intelligence reported that Middle East-based militant group the Islamic State claimed the responsibility of the attack.

Bangladesh authorities have been denying the group’s presence in the country, but speaking at a programme on Saturday, Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina has described the hostage crisis as a ‘terror attack’.

The Prime Minister was scheduled to address the nation at 7:45pm. She declared two days’ of national grievance remembering the destruction of the incident. She expressed her condolences with the demised and their family. She wished for quick recovery of the injured personnel.

Sheikh Hasina also asked for the youth not to be diverted to the roads of misconception of Islam as she asked the parents to provide roper education to the children and to keep an eye on their movement. She asked the youth to ride on the right roads.

 She said, a group from inside and outside of the country is trying to create barriers on the progression of Bangladesh which is speedily moving on the way of developments. She also added that, to protect the independence and sovereignty of the nation, these terrorists will be strongly prevented.

Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Japanese Prime Minister Shinjo Abe, United States has expressed their condolences and offered any help or support in fighting terrorism in Bangladesh.

Though it is portrayed on the media a big success, with all those lost lives, we cannot put a smiley mask on our face at all.