Gunmen take hostages in Bangladesh restaurant popular with foreign diplomats
UPDATED July 1 4:20 p.m. PT
A group of gunmen attacked a restaurant popular with foreigners in a diplomatic zone of Dhaka in Bangladesh Friday night local time, taking hostages and exchanging gunfire with security forces, local media reports.
A worker at the restaurant, the Holey Artisan Bakery in the city's Gulshan area, told reporters that the attackers were armed with firearms and bombs and stormed the building at around 9:20 p.m. local time.
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Security forces are trying to negotiate the release of several hostages inside the restaurant. Some are thought to be foreign nationals.
Dozens of people have been injured, and two police officers were killed, the BBC reports.
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The U.S. Embassy tweeted that a hostage situation was ongoing and advised anyone in the area to find shelter and keep an eye on the news.
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Police cordoned off the area around the restaurant, which is in a residential part of the city.
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"Some derailed youths have entered the restaurant and launched the attack," Benazir Ahmed, director general of the elite anti-crime force Rapid Action Battalion or RAB, told reporters at 11:20 p.m. local time.
"We have talked to some of the people who fled the restaurant after the attack. We want to resolve this peacefully. We are trying to talk to the attackers, we want to listen to them about what they want."
In Washington, State Department spokesman John Kirby told reporters: "We are aware of reports of what appears to a hostage situation in the Gulshan neighborhood of Dhaka."
He said the department is aware that local security forces are on the scene, responding, and the U.S. Embassy is in constant touch with Bangladeshi authorities concerning what is a "very fluid, very live situation."
Kirby said the embassy has accounted for all the American citizens under the authority of the diplomatic chief of mission in Dhaka. He said he had no more details.
He said it was too early to say who was involved in the assault and their motivation.
UPDATES
4:21 p.m. PT: Added information about victims and hostages.
The Associated Press contributed reporting.
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Tim Chester was Senior Editor, Real Time News in Los Angeles. Before that he was Deputy Editor of Mashable UK in London. Prior to joining Mashable, Tim was a Senior Web Editor at Penguin Random House, helping to relaunch the Rough Guides website and other travel brands. He was also a writer for Buzzfeed, GQ and The Sunday Times, covering everything from culture to tech and current affairs. Before that, he was Deputy Editor at NME.COM, overseeing content and development on the London-based music and entertainment site. Tim loves music and travel and has combined these two passions at festivals from Iceland to Malawi and beyond.
