The Indian government today indicated it might take action against controversial Indian Islamic preacher Zakir Naik. Naik was followed by one of the five Bangladeshi attackers who killed 22 people at a restaurant in Dhaka. 
 
&quot;Zakir Naik&#39;s speech is a matter of concern for us. Our agencies are working on this. But as a minister, I will not comment what action will be taken,&quot; Minister of State for Home Affairs Kiren Rijiju told reporters here. 
 
Rijiju said India has good relations and mutual understanding with Bangladesh, especially in the matter of co-operation on fighting terrorism. 
 
&quot;Terror can be defeated only through close coordination and by fighting together (against it),&quot; he said. 
 
Bangladeshi newspaper &#39;Daily Star&#39; had reported that militant Rohan Imtiaz, son of an Awami League leader, ran propaganda on Facebook last year quoting Naik. 
 
Naik, in a lecture aired on Peace TV, an international Islamic channel, had reportedly &quot;urged all Muslims to be terrorists&quot;. 
 
Naik, a popular but controversial Islamic orator and founder of Mumbai-based Islamic Research Foundation, is banned in the UK and Canada for his hate speech aimed against other religions. He&nbsp;is among 16 banned Islamic scholars in Malaysia. 
 
He is hugely popular in Bangladesh through his Peace TV, although his preachings often demean other religions and even other Muslim sects, the report said. 
 
Another Dhaka attacker Nibras Islam used to follow two alleged suspected recruiters of Islamic State - Anjem Choudary and Shami Witness on Twitter in 2014. 
 
Shami Witness is the Twitter account of 24-year-old Mehdi Biswas, who is facing trial in India for running propaganda for terror group Islamic State (ISIS). He was arrested in December 2014 following an investigation into his Twitter account, which was last active in August 2014. 
 
Biswas was charged with operating the &quot;single most influential pro-ISIS Twitter account&quot;. 
 
Choudary, a Pakistan-origin British citizen, is now facing a trial in England for breaking the British anti-terrorism law. His Twitter account turned inactive since August 2015 after terror charges were brought against him. 
 
(PTI)

One of the Bangladesh attackers reportedly followed him. Naik is already banned in the UK, Canada, and Malaysia

The Indian government today indicated it might take action against controversial Indian Islamic preacher Zakir Naik. Naik was followed by one of the five Bangladeshi attackers who killed 22 people at a restaurant in Dhaka. "Zakir Naik's speech is a matter of concern for us. Our agencies are working on this. But as a minister, I will not comment what action will be taken," Minister of State for Home Affairs Kiren Rijiju told reporters here. Rijiju said India has good relations and mutual understanding with Bangladesh, especially in the matter of co-operation on fighting terrorism. "Terror can be defeated only through close coordination and by fighting together (against it)," he said. Bangladeshi newspaper 'Daily Star' had reported that militant Rohan Imtiaz, son of an Awami League leader, ran propaganda on Facebook last year quoting Naik. Naik, in a lecture aired on Peace TV, an international Islamic channel, had reportedly "urged all Muslims to be terrorists". Naik, a popular but controversial Islamic orator and founder of Mumbai-based Islamic Research Foundation, is banned in the UK and Canada for his hate speech aimed against other religions. He is among 16 banned Islamic scholars in Malaysia. He is hugely popular in Bangladesh through his Peace TV, although his preachings often demean other religions and even other Muslim sects, the report said. Another Dhaka attacker Nibras Islam used to follow two alleged suspected recruiters of Islamic State - Anjem Choudary and Shami Witness on Twitter in 2014. Shami Witness is the Twitter account of 24-year-old Mehdi Biswas, who is facing trial in India for running propaganda for terror group Islamic State (ISIS). He was arrested in December 2014 following an investigation into his Twitter account, which was last active in August 2014. Biswas was charged with operating the "single most influential pro-ISIS Twitter account". Choudary, a Pakistan-origin British citizen, is now facing a trial in England for breaking the British anti-terrorism law. His Twitter account turned inactive since August 2015 after terror charges were brought against him. (PTI)

Indian government hints it might take action against Islamic preacher Zakir Naik

Bangladeshi police said Tuesday they are investigating whether security forces accidentally shot dead an innocent kitchen worker when they stormed a Dhaka cafe where Islamist attackers were holding people hostage. 
 
Relatives raised the alarm after recognising Saiful Islam Chowkider, who made pizzas and pasta at the cafe, among the pictures of suspected attackers that police released after the siege. 
 
&quot;We think that he was accidentally shot dead,&quot; said police official Saiful Islam of the 39-year-old cafe worker. &quot;We are investigating.&quot; 
 
Bangladeshi security forces shot dead six men when they stormed the cafe on Saturday morning, bringing the all-night siege to an end after the death of 20 hostages. One suspected attacker was captured alive. 
 
Chowkider&#39;s cousin Solaiman said the family assumed he had been rescued until they saw his photo among the pictures of suspected attackers that police released to the public. 
 
&quot;We protested. We said he was never a militant. He was a hardworking man and one of the best pizza and pasta makers in Bangladesh,&quot; he told AFP. 
 
&quot;We went to the military, but they would not hand over the body, they said he was a suspect.&quot; 
 
Solaiman said the whole family was shocked by the death of Chowkider, who worked for many years in Germany, learning to make Italian food. 
 
He is survived by two daughters and his wife, who is pregnant.

'We think that he was accidentally shot dead,' said a police official. 'We are investigating'

Bangladeshi police said Tuesday they are investigating whether security forces accidentally shot dead an innocent kitchen worker when they stormed a Dhaka cafe where Islamist attackers were holding people hostage. Relatives raised the alarm after recognising Saiful Islam Chowkider, who made pizzas and pasta at the cafe, among the pictures of suspected attackers that police released after the siege. "We think that he was accidentally shot dead," said police official Saiful Islam of the 39-year-old cafe worker. "We are investigating." Bangladeshi security forces shot dead six men when they stormed the cafe on Saturday morning, bringing the all-night siege to an end after the death of 20 hostages. One suspected attacker was captured alive. Chowkider's cousin Solaiman said the family assumed he had been rescued until they saw his photo among the pictures of suspected attackers that police released to the public. "We protested. We said he was never a militant. He was a hardworking man and one of the best pizza and pasta makers in Bangladesh," he told AFP. "We went to the military, but they would not hand over the body, they said he was a suspect." Solaiman said the whole family was shocked by the death of Chowkider, who worked for many years in Germany, learning to make Italian food. He is survived by two daughters and his wife, who is pregnant.

Bangladesh police may have accidentally killed Holey Artisan employee

Until late 2014, Nibras Islam appeared to acquaintances to be a typical student: fun-loving, in and out of love, and keen on sport, especially soccer. Women found him handsome. 
 
On a &quot;confessions&quot; Facebook page for Monash University students, one anonymous admirer gushed in a post on October 11, that year: &quot;Nibras Islam!! You are cute. But very hard to spot. Tell me when can I see you. Your smile just makes my day.&quot; 
 
On Friday night, police suspect Nibras was among at least six gunmen who attacked an upscale restaurant in his hometown Dhaka and brutally murdered 20 people, most of them foreigners. 
 
Police in Malaysia said that at least two of the militants had attended the Kuala Lumpur campus of Australia&#39;s prestigious Monash University, although they did not name them. 
 
They and four other gunmen were killed by security forces after a 12-hour siege, while a seventh suspected attacker is in police custody, Bangladesh police said. 
 
The attack, claimed by Islamic State, is an alarming development for a nation that, long used to gritty street violence fanned by political tension between secularists and Islamists, is suddenly facing a far more sophisticated threat. 
 
As investigators gather details about the militants, a profile is emerging of a band of educated youths from privileged backgrounds who had turned to radical Islamism only recently. 
 
One was the son of a mid-ranking leader of the country&#39;s ruling party, police said. 
 
It is testing the long-held belief that poverty and lack of education are the main causes for militancy taking hold in South Asia. 
 
&quot;Earlier the people who were radicalised used to be poorer and educated in quasi-madrassas,&quot; said Joyeeta Bhattacharjee, a Bangladesh expert at Observer Research Foundation in New Delhi. &quot;These attackers are people from affluent backgrounds, liberal backgrounds.&quot; 
 
Masudur Rahman, a deputy police commissioner in Dhaka, said that the attackers were &quot;educated and rich&quot; and, somewhere along the way, &quot;brainwashed&quot;. 
 
It is still not clear when and how these young men - three of whom police said were younger than 22 - were radicalised. 
 
But interviews with friends and acquaintances of Nibras and some of the other suspected attackers, as well as a review of their social media activity, offer early glimpses into how they started to change. 
 
A student who knew Nibras from North South University, a private college in Dhaka where he went before moving to Malaysia, said he ran into him at a cafe in January and was surprised by the elaborate version of the &quot;Salaam&quot; greeting he used. 
 
&quot;It&#39;s usually just &ndash; &#39;hey, salaam, how you doing man?&#39; But Nibras said the full version ... His approach that day seemed totally different,&quot; said the student, who requested anonymity. 
 
&quot;I used to pray often in university, and I never saw him during prayer times at the prayer room.&quot; 
 
Privileged background 
 
The annual fee for a bachelor&#39;s course at Monash, a college with sprawling grounds and state-of-the-art sports facilities on the outskirts of the Malaysian capital, is nearly $9,000, at least six times the average income in Bangladesh. 
 
A person who knew Nibras at Monash said he was pursuing an undergraduate degree in business. This person, who did not want to be identified, described him as someone who would hang out with friends and do what they did. 
 
He loved taking photographs, especially of himself, the person said, so much so that his friends would tease him about it. 
 
A scan of social media shows Nibras was crazy about a Bollywood actress, supported Liverpool soccer club and took selfies in cafes with friends. 
 
He also had a girlfriend, whom he broke up with in 2014, the person who knew him at Monash said. On Twitter, where he put his age as 22, Nibras at one point tweeted mournfully about a broken relationship. 
 
&quot;You don&#39;t need me anymore. Be happy with him. Everyone is better then (sic) me. You know where to find me,&quot; he wrote. 
 
Then he vanished from the campus sometime last year. 
 
It is not clear why he left, but the person who knew him said his friends thought it was because he didn&#39;t enjoy his stay at Monash and decided to pursue his education closer to home and family. 
 
He started to withdraw from social media, stopping activity on sites such as Snapchat and Facebook. His Instagram account is still active. 
 
Nibras followed only ten Twitter accounts, one of which was @ShamiWitness, an influential handle run by Islamic State propagandist Mehdi Masroor Biswas, who was arrested in the Indian city of Bangalore last year. 
 
He liked a tweet by Anjem Choudary, one of Britain&#39;s most high-profile Islamist preachers, that was critical of France and its allies and was posted in January, 2015, shortly after the deadly militant attack on the offices of the French satirical publication Charlie Hebdo. 
 
Two months before that, he had tweeted: &quot;Goodbye for good&quot;. 
 
(Reuters )

Police suspected Nibras Islam, a student of Australia's Monash University in Kuala Lumpur, to be one of the six gunmen

Until late 2014, Nibras Islam appeared to acquaintances to be a typical student: fun-loving, in and out of love, and keen on sport, especially soccer. Women found him handsome. On a "confessions" Facebook page for Monash University students, one anonymous admirer gushed in a post on October 11, that year: "Nibras Islam!! You are cute. But very hard to spot. Tell me when can I see you. Your smile just makes my day." On Friday night, police suspect Nibras was among at least six gunmen who attacked an upscale restaurant in his hometown Dhaka and brutally murdered 20 people, most of them foreigners. Police in Malaysia said that at least two of the militants had attended the Kuala Lumpur campus of Australia's prestigious Monash University, although they did not name them. They and four other gunmen were killed by security forces after a 12-hour siege, while a seventh suspected attacker is in police custody, Bangladesh police said. The attack, claimed by Islamic State, is an alarming development for a nation that, long used to gritty street violence fanned by political tension between secularists and Islamists, is suddenly facing a far more sophisticated threat. As investigators gather details about the militants, a profile is emerging of a band of educated youths from privileged backgrounds who had turned to radical Islamism only recently. One was the son of a mid-ranking leader of the country's ruling party, police said. It is testing the long-held belief that poverty and lack of education are the main causes for militancy taking hold in South Asia. "Earlier the people who were radicalised used to be poorer and educated in quasi-madrassas," said Joyeeta Bhattacharjee, a Bangladesh expert at Observer Research Foundation in New Delhi. "These attackers are people from affluent backgrounds, liberal backgrounds." Masudur Rahman, a deputy police commissioner in Dhaka, said that the attackers were "educated and rich" and, somewhere along the way, "brainwashed". It is still not clear when and how these young men - three of whom police said were younger than 22 - were radicalised. But interviews with friends and acquaintances of Nibras and some of the other suspected attackers, as well as a review of their social media activity, offer early glimpses into how they started to change. A student who knew Nibras from North South University, a private college in Dhaka where he went before moving to Malaysia, said he ran into him at a cafe in January and was surprised by the elaborate version of the "Salaam" greeting he used. "It's usually just – 'hey, salaam, how you doing man?' But Nibras said the full version ... His approach that day seemed totally different," said the student, who requested anonymity. "I used to pray often in university, and I never saw him during prayer times at the prayer room." Privileged background The annual fee for a bachelor's course at Monash, a college with sprawling grounds and state-of-the-art sports facilities on the outskirts of the Malaysian capital, is nearly $9,000, at least six times the average income in Bangladesh. A person who knew Nibras at Monash said he was pursuing an undergraduate degree in business. This person, who did not want to be identified, described him as someone who would hang out with friends and do what they did. He loved taking photographs, especially of himself, the person said, so much so that his friends would tease him about it. A scan of social media shows Nibras was crazy about a Bollywood actress, supported Liverpool soccer club and took selfies in cafes with friends. He also had a girlfriend, whom he broke up with in 2014, the person who knew him at Monash said. On Twitter, where he put his age as 22, Nibras at one point tweeted mournfully about a broken relationship. "You don't need me anymore. Be happy with him. Everyone is better then (sic) me. You know where to find me," he wrote. Then he vanished from the campus sometime last year. It is not clear why he left, but the person who knew him said his friends thought it was because he didn't enjoy his stay at Monash and decided to pursue his education closer to home and family. He started to withdraw from social media, stopping activity on sites such as Snapchat and Facebook. His Instagram account is still active. Nibras followed only ten Twitter accounts, one of which was @ShamiWitness, an influential handle run by Islamic State propagandist Mehdi Masroor Biswas, who was arrested in the Indian city of Bangalore last year. He liked a tweet by Anjem Choudary, one of Britain's most high-profile Islamist preachers, that was critical of France and its allies and was posted in January, 2015, shortly after the deadly militant attack on the offices of the French satirical publication Charlie Hebdo. Two months before that, he had tweeted: "Goodbye for good". (Reuters )

Heartbreak, selfies and soccer: the life of a Dhaka cafe killer

A slaughter of foreign hostages has put Bangladesh firmly on the frontline of the global war on terror, despite government efforts to portray a campaign of attacks as the work of domestic opponents, according to analysts. 
 
Several dozen people have been killed by jihadists in Bangladesh in the last two years, the victims including mainly local atheist bloggers, Hindus, gay activists and liberal academics. 
 
But while those attacks generated few column inches beyond Bangladesh, this weekend&#39;s hostage siege in a Dhaka cafe led news bulletins around the world, attracting the kind of attention its perpetrators had long been craving. 
 
Analysts said the choice of venue, target, timing and method of killing were all designed to maximise publicity for jihadists who were well aware of the outrage that greeted recent massacres in Orlando and Paris. 
 
Eighteen of the 20 civilians who were killed in the Holey Artisan Bakery were foreigners. Nearly all were hacked to death with machetes, even though the hostage-takers had plenty of firearms. 
 
The attack was even more shocking as it came on the final weekend of Ramadan, with survivors describing how the hostage-takers made clear their targets were non-Muslims, separating locals from the foreigners. 
 
Around 90 per cent of Bangladesh&#39;s 160 million people are Muslims, but the state is officially secular. 
 
&quot;By hacking people to death... they wanted to show the world that they can go to any extent for jihad,&quot; said K G Suresh, a senior fellow at New Delhi&#39;s Vivekananda International Foundation think-tank. 
 
&quot;Once they attack a restaurant popular with foreigners on a Friday night their message is clear who they want to go after. By sparing Muslims, they wanted to send out the message that they are only against Westerners.&quot; 
 
According to the monitoring group SITE, the Islamic State organisation claimed responsibility for the attack which it said had targetted &quot;citizens of crusader states&quot;. 
 
But Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina&#39;s secular government has long insisted neither IS nor Al-Qaeda have gained a foothold in Bangladesh despite both groups claiming many previous attacks. 
 
That line was reiterated by Home Minister Asaduzzaman Khan, who told AFP that six gunmen killed at the end of the siege were members of Jamaeytul Mujahdeen Bangladesh, a domestic group which has been banned for a decade. 
 
He denied any link with IS, but analysts said that stretched credibility. 
 
Taj Hashmi, a Bangladeshi who teaches security studies at the Austin Peay State University in the US, said there could be &quot;no ambiguity&quot; that the attack was the work of IS. 
 
&quot;Bangladesh must admit that international Islamist networks are actively engaged in killing people in the country and they are not through yet,&quot; said Hashmi. 
 
Mubashar Hasan, an expert on political Islam at Dhaka&#39;s Liberal Arts University, said the attack was not merely a local difficulty but was the latest in a line that stretched back to the bombings in New York and Washington on September 11, 2001. 
 
&quot;This is Bangladesh&#39;s 9/11. Bangladesh has now entered into the global war on terror,&quot; Hasan told AFP. 
 
Critics have said the violence stems from the government&#39;s refusal to allow its opponents to operate freely in the political mainstream. 
 
&#39;Lack of democracy&#39; 
 
Bangladesh&#39;s main Islamist party has been banned and most of its leaders have been arrested or else executed after recent trials over their role in the 1971 war of independence from Pakistan. 
 
Opposition leader Khaleda Zia is facing a string of court cases for her role in violent anti-government protests. 
 
Zia&#39;s party boycotted the 2014 general election after Hasina refused to allow it to be overseen by a neutral caretaker government as in the past, and Hasan said growing extremism was an inevitable consequence. 
 
&quot;A dysfunctional state and lack of democracy made it fertile ground for terrorism,&quot; said Hasan. 
 
The columnist Zafar Sohban urged the government to end &quot;its state of denial&quot;. 
 
&quot;It cannot continue to bury its head in the sand about the clear and convincing evidence of transnational links to domestic terror groups and operations,&quot; he wrote in the Dhaka Tribune. 
 
Subhash Agrawal of the Delhi-based India Focus political risk consultancy, said the recent arrests of thousands of Bangladeshis that the government says was organised to eradicate extremism had been counter-productive. 
 
&quot;She has been focusing on her political opponents and going after Begum Khaleda Zia&#39;s people while turning a blind eye to the alarming political and social polarisation in her country,&quot; Agrawal told AFP. 
 
&quot;Arresting so many people is simply stupid.&quot; 
 
(AFP)

Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina's secular government has long insisted that neither IS or Al-Qaeda have gained a foothold in Bangladesh

A slaughter of foreign hostages has put Bangladesh firmly on the frontline of the global war on terror, despite government efforts to portray a campaign of attacks as the work of domestic opponents, according to analysts. Several dozen people have been killed by jihadists in Bangladesh in the last two years, the victims including mainly local atheist bloggers, Hindus, gay activists and liberal academics. But while those attacks generated few column inches beyond Bangladesh, this weekend's hostage siege in a Dhaka cafe led news bulletins around the world, attracting the kind of attention its perpetrators had long been craving. Analysts said the choice of venue, target, timing and method of killing were all designed to maximise publicity for jihadists who were well aware of the outrage that greeted recent massacres in Orlando and Paris. Eighteen of the 20 civilians who were killed in the Holey Artisan Bakery were foreigners. Nearly all were hacked to death with machetes, even though the hostage-takers had plenty of firearms. The attack was even more shocking as it came on the final weekend of Ramadan, with survivors describing how the hostage-takers made clear their targets were non-Muslims, separating locals from the foreigners. Around 90 per cent of Bangladesh's 160 million people are Muslims, but the state is officially secular. "By hacking people to death... they wanted to show the world that they can go to any extent for jihad," said K G Suresh, a senior fellow at New Delhi's Vivekananda International Foundation think-tank. "Once they attack a restaurant popular with foreigners on a Friday night their message is clear who they want to go after. By sparing Muslims, they wanted to send out the message that they are only against Westerners." According to the monitoring group SITE, the Islamic State organisation claimed responsibility for the attack which it said had targetted "citizens of crusader states". But Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina's secular government has long insisted neither IS nor Al-Qaeda have gained a foothold in Bangladesh despite both groups claiming many previous attacks. That line was reiterated by Home Minister Asaduzzaman Khan, who told AFP that six gunmen killed at the end of the siege were members of Jamaeytul Mujahdeen Bangladesh, a domestic group which has been banned for a decade. He denied any link with IS, but analysts said that stretched credibility. Taj Hashmi, a Bangladeshi who teaches security studies at the Austin Peay State University in the US, said there could be "no ambiguity" that the attack was the work of IS. "Bangladesh must admit that international Islamist networks are actively engaged in killing people in the country and they are not through yet," said Hashmi. Mubashar Hasan, an expert on political Islam at Dhaka's Liberal Arts University, said the attack was not merely a local difficulty but was the latest in a line that stretched back to the bombings in New York and Washington on September 11, 2001. "This is Bangladesh's 9/11. Bangladesh has now entered into the global war on terror," Hasan told AFP. Critics have said the violence stems from the government's refusal to allow its opponents to operate freely in the political mainstream. 'Lack of democracy' Bangladesh's main Islamist party has been banned and most of its leaders have been arrested or else executed after recent trials over their role in the 1971 war of independence from Pakistan. Opposition leader Khaleda Zia is facing a string of court cases for her role in violent anti-government protests. Zia's party boycotted the 2014 general election after Hasina refused to allow it to be overseen by a neutral caretaker government as in the past, and Hasan said growing extremism was an inevitable consequence. "A dysfunctional state and lack of democracy made it fertile ground for terrorism," said Hasan. The columnist Zafar Sohban urged the government to end "its state of denial". "It cannot continue to bury its head in the sand about the clear and convincing evidence of transnational links to domestic terror groups and operations," he wrote in the Dhaka Tribune. Subhash Agrawal of the Delhi-based India Focus political risk consultancy, said the recent arrests of thousands of Bangladeshis that the government says was organised to eradicate extremism had been counter-productive. "She has been focusing on her political opponents and going after Begum Khaleda Zia's people while turning a blind eye to the alarming political and social polarisation in her country," Agrawal told AFP. "Arresting so many people is simply stupid." (AFP)

Bangladesh 'in denial' over jihadist attacks: analysts

Bangladesh began observing two days of national mourning today after 20 hostages were slaughtered at a restaurant packed with foreigners in a terrifying escalation of a campaign of attacks by Islamist extremists. 
 
Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina decreed the mourning period as she vowed to drag Bangladesh back from the brink, warning of a concerted bid to turn one of the world&#39;s most populous nations into a failed state. 
 
Amid mass condemnation of the killings in Dhaka, whose victims included 18 foreigners, the Islamic State group said it had targetted a gathering of &quot;citizens of crusader states&quot; on Friday night at a Western-style cafe. 
 
The bodies of the 20 slain hostages were found amid pools of blood after commandos stormed the cafe to end the siege. Two policemen were also shot dead in a fierce gunbattle at its outset. 
 
Six gunmen were shot dead by the commandos at the final stages of the siege at the Holey Artisan Bakery cafe but one of the hostage-takers was taken alive and was being interrogated by Bangladeshi intelligence. 
 
Security officials said most of the victims were slaughtered with sharpened machete-style weapons. 
 
Hasina&#39;s government has previously blamed a string of deadly attacks against religious minorities and foreigners on domestic opponents, but the latest will heighten fears that IS&#39;s reach is spreading. 
 
&quot;Islam is a religion of peace. Stop killing in the name of the religion,&quot; Hasina said in an impassioned televised address to the nation. 
 
&quot;Please stop tarnishing our noble religion. I implore you to come back to the rightful path and uphold the pride of Islam.&quot; 
 
The 68-year-old premier said the people behind the attacks were trying to ruin Bangladesh, a mainly Muslim nation of 160 million people. 
 
&quot;By holding innocent civilians hostage at gunpoint, they want to turn our nation into a failed state,&quot; she said. 
 
Flags were being flown at half-mast in government offices and at other sites across the country while funerals of the two Bangladeshi victims were expected to be held. 
 
UN chief Ban Ki-moon was among those who expressed outrage, stressing &quot;the need to intensify regional and international efforts to prevent and combat terrorism&quot;. 
 
Agony in Italy 
 
And there was agony in Italy whose government confirmed that nine of its nationals had been killed. 
 
&quot;The terrorists want to rip away the daily fabric of our lives,&quot; said Prime Minister Matteo Renzi. 
 
&quot;Our duty is to reply with even greater force, by affirming our values, the values of freedom of which we are proud, and which are stronger than hatred or terror.&quot; 
 
Seven Japanese nationals were also killed in the attack and Prime Minister Shinzo Abe said he felt &quot;profound anger that so many innocent people have lost their lives in the cruel and nefarious terrorism&quot;. 
 
US officials said one American citizen was among those killed and the government in New Delhi confirmed that a 19-year-old Indian who was studying at the University of California, Berkeley, had died. 
 
Witnesses recounted how a massive gunfight erupted on Saturday morning as more than 100 commandos launched the rescue operation, nearly 11 hours after the siege began at about 9.30 pm. 
 
Thirteen hostages were rescued in total, some of whom were rushed to a military hospital. 
 
The father of one of the survivors was told by his son how the hostage-takers separated the locals from foreigners. 
 
The attack, by far the deadliest of a recent wave of killings claimed by IS or a local Al-Qaeda offshoot, was carried out in the upmarket Gulshan neighbourhood which is home to the country&#39;s elite and many embassies. 
 
Last month authorities launched a crackdown on local jihadists, arresting more than 11,000, but critics allege the arrests were arbitrary or designed to silence political opponents. 
 
Bangladesh&#39;s main Islamist party has been banned from contesting polls and most of its leaders have been arrested or else executed after recent trials over their role in the 1971 war of independence from Pakistan. 
 
(AFP)

Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina announced two days of mourning as she vowed to do everything to eliminate terrorists from the country

Bangladesh began observing two days of national mourning today after 20 hostages were slaughtered at a restaurant packed with foreigners in a terrifying escalation of a campaign of attacks by Islamist extremists. Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina decreed the mourning period as she vowed to drag Bangladesh back from the brink, warning of a concerted bid to turn one of the world's most populous nations into a failed state. Amid mass condemnation of the killings in Dhaka, whose victims included 18 foreigners, the Islamic State group said it had targetted a gathering of "citizens of crusader states" on Friday night at a Western-style cafe. The bodies of the 20 slain hostages were found amid pools of blood after commandos stormed the cafe to end the siege. Two policemen were also shot dead in a fierce gunbattle at its outset. Six gunmen were shot dead by the commandos at the final stages of the siege at the Holey Artisan Bakery cafe but one of the hostage-takers was taken alive and was being interrogated by Bangladeshi intelligence. Security officials said most of the victims were slaughtered with sharpened machete-style weapons. Hasina's government has previously blamed a string of deadly attacks against religious minorities and foreigners on domestic opponents, but the latest will heighten fears that IS's reach is spreading. "Islam is a religion of peace. Stop killing in the name of the religion," Hasina said in an impassioned televised address to the nation. "Please stop tarnishing our noble religion. I implore you to come back to the rightful path and uphold the pride of Islam." The 68-year-old premier said the people behind the attacks were trying to ruin Bangladesh, a mainly Muslim nation of 160 million people. "By holding innocent civilians hostage at gunpoint, they want to turn our nation into a failed state," she said. Flags were being flown at half-mast in government offices and at other sites across the country while funerals of the two Bangladeshi victims were expected to be held. UN chief Ban Ki-moon was among those who expressed outrage, stressing "the need to intensify regional and international efforts to prevent and combat terrorism". Agony in Italy And there was agony in Italy whose government confirmed that nine of its nationals had been killed. "The terrorists want to rip away the daily fabric of our lives," said Prime Minister Matteo Renzi. "Our duty is to reply with even greater force, by affirming our values, the values of freedom of which we are proud, and which are stronger than hatred or terror." Seven Japanese nationals were also killed in the attack and Prime Minister Shinzo Abe said he felt "profound anger that so many innocent people have lost their lives in the cruel and nefarious terrorism". US officials said one American citizen was among those killed and the government in New Delhi confirmed that a 19-year-old Indian who was studying at the University of California, Berkeley, had died. Witnesses recounted how a massive gunfight erupted on Saturday morning as more than 100 commandos launched the rescue operation, nearly 11 hours after the siege began at about 9.30 pm. Thirteen hostages were rescued in total, some of whom were rushed to a military hospital. The father of one of the survivors was told by his son how the hostage-takers separated the locals from foreigners. The attack, by far the deadliest of a recent wave of killings claimed by IS or a local Al-Qaeda offshoot, was carried out in the upmarket Gulshan neighbourhood which is home to the country's elite and many embassies. Last month authorities launched a crackdown on local jihadists, arresting more than 11,000, but critics allege the arrests were arbitrary or designed to silence political opponents. Bangladesh's main Islamist party has been banned from contesting polls and most of its leaders have been arrested or else executed after recent trials over their role in the 1971 war of independence from Pakistan. (AFP)

Bangladesh in mourning after hostage bloodbath

Islamist militants shouting &quot;Allahu Akbar&quot; attacked an upscale cafe in the Bangladeshi capital, killing 20 foreigners inside, before police stormed the building on Saturday and rescued 13 hostages, officials said.

The attack, claimed by Islamic State, marks a major escalation in a campaign by militants over the past 18 months that had targeted mostly individuals advocating a secular or liberal lifestyle in mostly Muslim Bangladesh.

Six gunmen were killed during the police operation and one was captured, Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina said in a TV broadcast.

All 20 victims were foreigners, the spokesman for the Bangladesh army said. Colonel Rashidul Hasan said he could not yet confirm the nationalities of those who had died, most of whom were killed by &quot;sharp weapons&quot;.

Many people in the expatriate community in Bangladesh work in the country&#39;s $25 billion garment sector.

The army concluded an operation to clear the cafe after a 12-hour siege that began when gunmen stormed the restaurant on Friday night. Two police were killed in the initial assault.

The 13 hostages that were rescued included one Japanese and two Sri Lankans, the army said.

One Japanese man was among those rescued and taken to a Dhaka hospital with a gunshot wound, a Japanese government spokesman said. Seven Japanese were unaccounted for.

An unknown number of Italians were among the hostages who were killed, a source at Italy&#39;s foreign ministry said on Saturday. Seven Italians were in the cafe when the attack started, including several working in the garment industry, Italian media have reported.

Islamic State posted photos of what it said were dead foreigners killed in the assault.

Gowher Rizvi, an adviser to Hasina, told Reuters security forces had tried to negotiate with the gunmen.

 
Sporadic gunfire

The hostage crisis began when security guards in the Gulshan district of Dhaka, popular with expatriates, noticed several gunmen outsde a medical centre, Rizvi said. When the guards approached, the gunmen ran into a building housing the restaurant, packed with people waiting for tables, he said.

Ali Arsalan, co-owner of the restaurant, said that his staff told him the attackers yelled &quot;Allahu Akbar&quot; (God is Great) as they stormed the building that is split between a bakery and the O&#39;Kitchen Restaurant.

Police said the assailants exchanged sporadic gunfire with police outside for several hours after the gunmen attacked the restaurant around 9 p.m. on Friday.

A police officer at the scene said that when security forces tried to enter the premises at the beginning of the siege they were met with a hail of bullets and grenades that killed at least two of them.

Television footage showed a number of police being led away from the site with blood on their faces and clothes.

A cafe employee who escaped told local television about 20 customers were in the restaurant at the time, most of them foreigners. Some 15 to 20 staff were working at the restaurant, the employee said.

The rescued Japanese man was eating dinner with seven other Japanese, all of whom were consultants for Japan&#39;s foreign aid agency, the Japanese government spokesman said. He did not know what happened to the others.

&nbsp;

Spate of murders

The hostage crisis marks an escalation from a recent spate of murders claimed by Islamic State and al Qaeda on liberals, gays, foreigners and religious minorities.

A Hindu priest was hacked to death on Friday at a temple in Jhinaidah district, 300 km (188 miles) southwest of Dhaka.

Both Islamic State and al Qaeda have claimed responsibility for many of the killings, although local authorities say no operational links exist between Bangladeshi militants and international jihadi networks.

Bangladesh security officials say two local militant groups, Ansar-al-Islam and Jamaat-ul-Mujahideen, have been behind the spate of violence over the past 18 months. Ansar pledges allegiance to al Qaeda, while Jamaat-ul-Mujahideen claims it represents Islamic State.

&quot;The bottom line is Bangladesh has plenty of local, often unaffiliated, militants and radicals happy to stage attacks in ISIS&#39;s name,&quot; said Michael Kugelman, South Asia associate at The Wilson Centre in Washington D.C., using an acronym commonly used for Islamic State.

Islamic State had claimed more attacks in Bangladesh than in Pakistan or Afghanistan, he said.

The restaurant assault also comes after Bangladesh hanged an Islamist party leader, Motiur Rahman Nizami, on May 11 for genocide and other crimes committed during a 1971 war of independence from Pakistan. That has drawn an angry reaction and some scattered violence from supporters. Nizami, 73, was a former legislator and minister during opposition leader Khaleda Zia&#39;s last term as prime minister.

Foreign diplomats and human rights groups have warned that Bangladesh&#39;s ongoing war crime tribunals and the government&#39;s pressure on the Bangladesh Nationalist Party have created a backlash domestically,? according to Brad Adams, Asia director at Human Rights Watch.

&quot;They need to maintain legal political space for Jamaat and the BNP so that they don&#39;t drive people into the shadows and violence,&quot; Adams said in a telephone interview, cautioning that it&#39;s not known whether that dynamic and the bloodshed in Dhaka were related.&nbsp; 
 
(Reuters)

13 hostages were rescued including one Japanese national and two Sri Lankans, the army said

Islamist militants shouting "Allahu Akbar" attacked an upscale cafe in the Bangladeshi capital, killing 20 foreigners inside, before police stormed the building on Saturday and rescued 13 hostages, officials said. The attack, claimed by Islamic State, marks a major escalation in a campaign by militants over the past 18 months that had targeted mostly individuals advocating a secular or liberal lifestyle in mostly Muslim Bangladesh. Six gunmen were killed during the police operation and one was captured, Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina said in a TV broadcast. All 20 victims were foreigners, the spokesman for the Bangladesh army said. Colonel Rashidul Hasan said he could not yet confirm the nationalities of those who had died, most of whom were killed by "sharp weapons". Many people in the expatriate community in Bangladesh work in the country's $25 billion garment sector. The army concluded an operation to clear the cafe after a 12-hour siege that began when gunmen stormed the restaurant on Friday night. Two police were killed in the initial assault. The 13 hostages that were rescued included one Japanese and two Sri Lankans, the army said. One Japanese man was among those rescued and taken to a Dhaka hospital with a gunshot wound, a Japanese government spokesman said. Seven Japanese were unaccounted for. An unknown number of Italians were among the hostages who were killed, a source at Italy's foreign ministry said on Saturday. Seven Italians were in the cafe when the attack started, including several working in the garment industry, Italian media have reported. Islamic State posted photos of what it said were dead foreigners killed in the assault. Gowher Rizvi, an adviser to Hasina, told Reuters security forces had tried to negotiate with the gunmen. Sporadic gunfire The hostage crisis began when security guards in the Gulshan district of Dhaka, popular with expatriates, noticed several gunmen outsde a medical centre, Rizvi said. When the guards approached, the gunmen ran into a building housing the restaurant, packed with people waiting for tables, he said. Ali Arsalan, co-owner of the restaurant, said that his staff told him the attackers yelled "Allahu Akbar" (God is Great) as they stormed the building that is split between a bakery and the O'Kitchen Restaurant. Police said the assailants exchanged sporadic gunfire with police outside for several hours after the gunmen attacked the restaurant around 9 p.m. on Friday. A police officer at the scene said that when security forces tried to enter the premises at the beginning of the siege they were met with a hail of bullets and grenades that killed at least two of them. Television footage showed a number of police being led away from the site with blood on their faces and clothes. A cafe employee who escaped told local television about 20 customers were in the restaurant at the time, most of them foreigners. Some 15 to 20 staff were working at the restaurant, the employee said. The rescued Japanese man was eating dinner with seven other Japanese, all of whom were consultants for Japan's foreign aid agency, the Japanese government spokesman said. He did not know what happened to the others. Spate of murders The hostage crisis marks an escalation from a recent spate of murders claimed by Islamic State and al Qaeda on liberals, gays, foreigners and religious minorities. A Hindu priest was hacked to death on Friday at a temple in Jhinaidah district, 300 km (188 miles) southwest of Dhaka. Both Islamic State and al Qaeda have claimed responsibility for many of the killings, although local authorities say no operational links exist between Bangladeshi militants and international jihadi networks. Bangladesh security officials say two local militant groups, Ansar-al-Islam and Jamaat-ul-Mujahideen, have been behind the spate of violence over the past 18 months. Ansar pledges allegiance to al Qaeda, while Jamaat-ul-Mujahideen claims it represents Islamic State. "The bottom line is Bangladesh has plenty of local, often unaffiliated, militants and radicals happy to stage attacks in ISIS's name," said Michael Kugelman, South Asia associate at The Wilson Centre in Washington D.C., using an acronym commonly used for Islamic State. Islamic State had claimed more attacks in Bangladesh than in Pakistan or Afghanistan, he said. The restaurant assault also comes after Bangladesh hanged an Islamist party leader, Motiur Rahman Nizami, on May 11 for genocide and other crimes committed during a 1971 war of independence from Pakistan. That has drawn an angry reaction and some scattered violence from supporters. Nizami, 73, was a former legislator and minister during opposition leader Khaleda Zia's last term as prime minister. Foreign diplomats and human rights groups have warned that Bangladesh's ongoing war crime tribunals and the government's pressure on the Bangladesh Nationalist Party have created a backlash domestically,? according to Brad Adams, Asia director at Human Rights Watch. "They need to maintain legal political space for Jamaat and the BNP so that they don't drive people into the shadows and violence," Adams said in a telephone interview, cautioning that it's not known whether that dynamic and the bloodshed in Dhaka were related. (Reuters)

Dhaka siege over, six gunmen shot dead, one taken alive: PM

Italy&#39;s players will wear black armbands during their Euro 2016 quarter-final clash against Germany later today&nbsp;in tribute to the Italian victims of a terrorist attack in Dhaka.

Nine Italians were among the 20 victims killed by hostage-takers in Bangladesh.

The Italian football federation (FIGC) said the Azzurri team, which faces Germany at 1900 GMT looking to book their spot in the semi-finals of the competition, will pay tribute during the game.

Calling the incident &quot;a tragedy&quot;, a statement by the FIGC said: &quot;The Italian football federation, its staff and all the players stand united with the entire country and the family of the victims.&quot;

&quot;As a result, we have requested and received from Union of European Football Association (UEFA)&nbsp;permission to wear black armbands during the game against Germany as a symbol of our sympathy in what is a very painful time.&quot;

Germany, the 2014 World Cup winners, go into the match as favourites but have never beaten Italy in eight previous attempts in major finals.

Italy beat Germany 2-1 in the semi-finals of Euro 2012, only to lose the final 4-0 to Spain. 
 
(AFP)

The Azzurri team will wear black armbands during their Euro 2016 quarter-final clash against Germany today

Italy's players will wear black armbands during their Euro 2016 quarter-final clash against Germany later today in tribute to the Italian victims of a terrorist attack in Dhaka. Nine Italians were among the 20 victims killed by hostage-takers in Bangladesh. The Italian football federation (FIGC) said the Azzurri team, which faces Germany at 1900 GMT looking to book their spot in the semi-finals of the competition, will pay tribute during the game. Calling the incident "a tragedy", a statement by the FIGC said: "The Italian football federation, its staff and all the players stand united with the entire country and the family of the victims." "As a result, we have requested and received from Union of European Football Association (UEFA) permission to wear black armbands during the game against Germany as a symbol of our sympathy in what is a very painful time." Germany, the 2014 World Cup winners, go into the match as favourites but have never beaten Italy in eight previous attempts in major finals. Italy beat Germany 2-1 in the semi-finals of Euro 2012, only to lose the final 4-0 to Spain. (AFP)

Italy to honour Bangladesh victims at Euro 2016

England cricket chiefs indicated today that they were prepared to cancel a tour of Bangladesh after an attack saw 20 foreigners killed in the country. 
 
Hostage-takers murdered 20 foreigners, hacking many of their victims to death, before six attackers were gunned down by Bangladeshi commandos at the end of an overnight siege at an upmarket restaurant. 
 
The Islamic State (IS) group claimed responsibility for the carnage at the start of the Eid holiday. 
 
England were due to arrive in Bangladesh on September 30 for a month-long tour including three one-day internationals and two Test matches. 
 
But an England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) spokesman made it clear that they were prepared to abandon the tour if they or the British government deemed the security situation in Bangladesh unsafe come the squad&#39;s scheduled departure date. 
 
&quot;The safety and security of our players and management is always of paramount importance to ECB and this applies to all teams representing England on overseas tours,&quot; said the spokesman. 
 
&quot;We will continue to monitor and assess the situation in Bangladesh over the coming weeks and months and will undertake a thoroughgoing and robust pre-tour inspection of planned security arrangements for the England team.&quot;&nbsp; 
 
&quot;We will also continue to work closely with the Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) and should our director of security, Reg Dickason, or the FCO, advise that the environment is not acceptably safe or the right measures not in place, we would take the appropriate steps,&quot; he added. 
 
Survivors of the attack spoke of how the hostage-takers separated locals from the foreigners who were eating side-by-side before embarking on a killing spree which was brought to an end 11 hours later in a fierce gun battle. 
 
Although there was no exact breakdown of the casualties, the army said most of the slain civilians were either Italian or Japanese. Most had been killed with sharpened weapons. 
 
(AFP)

ECB spokesman says they will not come if they or the British govt deem the situation unsafe

England cricket chiefs indicated today that they were prepared to cancel a tour of Bangladesh after an attack saw 20 foreigners killed in the country. Hostage-takers murdered 20 foreigners, hacking many of their victims to death, before six attackers were gunned down by Bangladeshi commandos at the end of an overnight siege at an upmarket restaurant. The Islamic State (IS) group claimed responsibility for the carnage at the start of the Eid holiday. England were due to arrive in Bangladesh on September 30 for a month-long tour including three one-day internationals and two Test matches. But an England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) spokesman made it clear that they were prepared to abandon the tour if they or the British government deemed the security situation in Bangladesh unsafe come the squad's scheduled departure date. "The safety and security of our players and management is always of paramount importance to ECB and this applies to all teams representing England on overseas tours," said the spokesman. "We will continue to monitor and assess the situation in Bangladesh over the coming weeks and months and will undertake a thoroughgoing and robust pre-tour inspection of planned security arrangements for the England team." "We will also continue to work closely with the Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) and should our director of security, Reg Dickason, or the FCO, advise that the environment is not acceptably safe or the right measures not in place, we would take the appropriate steps," he added. Survivors of the attack spoke of how the hostage-takers separated locals from the foreigners who were eating side-by-side before embarking on a killing spree which was brought to an end 11 hours later in a fierce gun battle. Although there was no exact breakdown of the casualties, the army said most of the slain civilians were either Italian or Japanese. Most had been killed with sharpened weapons. (AFP)

England might cancel Bangladesh tour

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