Dhaka cafe siege: 20 foreigners hacked to death, 6 terrorists killed

After over a 12 hour seige, the security forces neutralised six of the terrorists, who had taken dozens of people hostages in a popular cafe in Dhaka's diplomatic zone on Friday night.

The attack, believed to have been carried out by Islamic State (ISIS) affiliates, left 28 people dead, including 20 foreign nationals.

 "20 hostages were hacked to death using sharp weapons by the assailants long before the joint operation began," Brig General Nayeem Ashfaq Chowdhury, director military operations told the Dhaka Tribune.

During the military operation to end the hostage situation six militants and two police officers were killed, and 13 people were rescued, he added.

The prime minister of Bangladesh, Sheikh Hasina in a television broadcast, said one of the gunmen had been captured alive in the dawn raid.

More than 100 Bangladeshi commandos stormed the Holey Artisan Bakery in the diplomatic quarter of the capital early on Saturday after the 12-hour siege began on Friday night.

The deceased had been moved to the Combined military hospital in Dhaka for postmortem examinations.

Lt Col Tuhin Mohammad Masud, the officer in charge of Bangladeshi commandos, said the rescued hostages included a Japanese citizen, who was injured, and two Sri Lankans. 

He said there were casualties among other hostages but did not provide details. Earlier reports had said seven Italians were among those taken hostage at the cafe, which is popular with foreigners

According to Dhaka Tribune, Eight Japanese citizens were among the hostages taken by attackers in the restaurant.

The gunmen were armed with high-powered automatic weapons, explosives and knives when they entered the Holey Artisan Bakery, which is in the capital's diplomatic zone.