Bangladesh terror escalates from machete to gun

The Islamist terror attack in Dhaka late Friday night revealed a dangerous shift in terrorist strategy towards the use of modern pistols, automatic rifles and hand grenades rather than the crude machetes used in various attacks on single targets in Bangladesh in the past.

Though many of the 20 people taken hostage and killed by gunmen claiming to belong to the ISIS were hacked to death with sharp objects, the fact that the attackers and Bangladesh’s elite Rapid Action Battalion (RAB) traded gunfire through the night, and that armoured personnel carriers and Bangladesh Army commandos were brought into action to end the crisis by shooting dead all six attackers, has startled the security establishments in Bangladesh and its neighbourhood. One attacker was taken alive.

The grisly murders inside the Holey Artisan Cafe in Dhaka’s posh diplomatic area were carried out so that the ISIS terrorists could film some of the killings and disseminate them. At the same time, they were also saving ammunition because a prolonged siege would be directly proportional to the attention it drew from the world.

The details late Friday night were sketchy. Saturday morning brought the terrible news of 20 foreigners being hacked to death in the restaurant, popular with expatriates in the high-security diplomatic zone, before a commando assault Saturday ended Bangladesh’s worst terror attack. One senior Army officer said all 20 of the victims were foreigners but local media said four were Bangladeshi and a spokesman said the situation remained unclear. “We’re doing the identification. After that, we can determine whether all 20 are foreigners or if there are any Bangladeshis among the dead,” Army spokesman Rashidul Hasan told AFP. Nine victims were Italian while Japan confirmed that seven of its nationals were killed. A US citizen and an 18-year-old Indian girl were also among the dead. Among those rescued were Indian, Sri Lankan and Japanese nationals, media reports said. Around 30 people were injured.

The Islamic State in Iraq and Syria (ISIS) group claimed responsibility for the carnage at the start of the Id holiday. The father of one of the survivors was told by his son how the hostage-takers separated the locals from foreigners. “They (the foreigners) were taken to the upper floor and the Bangladeshis were kept around a table,” Rezaul Karim told AFP. In the chaos and confusion at the start, many diners were able to scramble to safety. A senior officer who was part of the operation that ended the siege said, “We heard the gang saying Allahu Akbar and there was a slogan written on the wall which said Allah would grant them Jannatul Ferdous (ultimate heaven). ” He said all the attackers were men in their early to mid-20s, adding, “They were wearing sneakers and pant with multiple pockets where they kept IEDs (improvised explosive devices).”

The gunmen checked the religion of the captives by asking them to recite Quranic verses and tortured those who could not do so, the family of an eyewitness told PTI.

Bangladesh director of military operations Brigadier General Nayeem Ashfaq Chowdhury was quoted by PTI as saying the militants had slaughtered the 20 hostages before the joint operation led by the armed forces began. Most of those killed were found with their throat slit, he added. “Army para commando Unit-1 led the operation and killed six terrorists within 13 minutes,” Brig. Gen. Chowdhury told reporters. The mission, code-named “Operation Thunderbolt”, was launched after the Prime Minister ordered the Army to intervene, he said.

Most of the 20 hostages killed were foreigners, with most being Italian or Japanese. Two senior police officers were also killed in the gun battle that began late Friday night.

He said the bodies of the victims were recovered during a search in the Holey Artisan Bakery compound after the operation. The bodies were shifted to the Combined Military Hospital morgue for autopsies to confirm their identity.

Among the weapons recovered from the scene were pistols, automatic rifles and sharpened machete-style blades, AFP reported.

Gunshots and sounds of explosions rocked the area at 7.40 am (local time) Saturday as security forces launched the final assault to end the siege. Minutes later, Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina announced the end of the siege and said security forces “successfully” wrapped up their operation, freeing 13 hostages after killing six terrorists and capturing one militant at the Spanish cafe.

Among those rescued were Indian, Sri Lankan and Japanese nationals, media reports said. Ms Hasina said around 30 people were injured in the attack.

The terrorist group Islamic State claimed responsibility for the attack through its Amaq news agency nearly four hours after the hostage crisis unfolded, according to the US-based SITE Intelligence group, which monitors jihadist activity online.

It later issued a number of photographs of what it said were scenes from inside the restaurant. The pictures showed what appeared to be a number of bodies lying in pools of blood. Amaq claimed that 24 people had been killed in the attack carried out by what it described as “ISIS commandos”.

Heavy firing and explosions continued at least for an hour after the operation began Saturday morning. A resident of a building, just 50 yards from the scene, reported spotting snipers firing their guns. Shots were also fired from armoured personnel carriers (APCs). Grenades were also apparently used. Later, the APCs broke through the walls and entered the restaurant premises.

After hours of quiet at the Holey Artisan Bakery where terrorists were holding hostages, a fresh round of heavy gunfire rang out in the morning. “Our law enforcement agencies responded promptly soon after the terrorists raided the restaurant... As they were about to take action, two police officers were killed by the terrorists,” Ms Hasina said. She said the situation prompted the authorities to call out Army commandos from cantonments in north-eastern Sylhet, suburban Savar and the Dhaka garrison overnight.

“At around 4 in the morning, the operational plan was laid out and the security forces launched the assault,” she said. Armymen in APCs had moved in with commandos. Over 1,000 rounds were fired and almost 100 blasts were heard in the first half an hour of the raid, media reports said.

On Friday night, terrorists shouting “Allahu Akbar” had barged into the cafe, frequented by diplomats and expatriates, and opened indiscriminate fire at around 9.20 pm (local time).

The military-led rescue operation was launched jointly by a Navy commando squad, paramilitary BGB, elite anti-crime RAB along with special police units.

An Argentine national and a local escaped after taking refuge in a nearby house when the gunmen entered the restaurant. The police said they have detained two employees of the eatery for questioning.

Muslim-majority Bangladesh has witnessed a wave of deadly attacks on religious minorities and secular bloggers by suspected Islamist militants. A 48-year-old Hindu priest was stabbed and critically injured by unknown assailants in Satkhira district on Saturday. A Hindu priest and a Buddhist leader were brutally hacked to death by machete-wielding ISIS militants in the last two days while another Hindu man survived an attempt on his life.

Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina’s government has previously blamed a string of deadly attacks, targeting religious minorities and foreigners, on her domestic opponents but the incident will heighten fears that ISIS’ reach is spreading.

Prime Minister Matteo Renzi prepared Italians for “a painful loss” as local media said 11 had been taken hostage, only one of whom had escaped. There was similar foreboding in Tokyo where Prime Minister Shinzo Abe said his government was trying its best to confirm the fate of seven Japanese nationals.