Jacksonville (Florida) police said that the 11 hostages in the bank robbery case have been released and robbery suspect/hostage taker is in police custody.

A bank robbery turned into a hostage situation earlier in the day with shots fired in Jacksonville, Florida, the Daily Mail reported.

The robbery at the Community First Credit Union on West Edgewood Avenue was reported on Wednesday.

The suspect had threatened the 11 hostages with a handgun, ABC News reported.

(WION)

The robbery at the Community First Credit Union on West Edgewood Avenue was reported on Wednesday

Jacksonville (Florida) police said that the 11 hostages in the bank robbery case have been released and robbery suspect/hostage taker is in police custody. A bank robbery turned into a hostage situation earlier in the day with shots fired in Jacksonville, Florida, the Daily Mail reported. The robbery at the Community First Credit Union on West Edgewood Avenue was reported on Wednesday. The suspect had threatened the 11 hostages with a handgun, ABC News reported. (WION)

11 hostages in Florida bank robbery case released: Police

The White House on Wednesday denied renewed accusations that it paid Iran ransom for the release of four American prisoners, carrying a tidal wave of condemnations from Republicans. 
 
Amid revelations that the US helped airlift $400 million worth of Swiss Francs and Euros to Iran after a prisoner release, the White House 
insisted the two were not linked. 
 
In January, five American prisoners were released as Washington granted clemency to seven Iranians and withdrew arrest warrants for 14 others. 
 
Within hours President Barack Obama announced he had also agreed to repay $1.7 billion owed to Tehran -- one of a string of agreements that followed a deal to curb Iran&#39;s nuclear program. 
 
The White House said it was returning cash from a 1970s Iranian military order that was not fulfilled because of the Islamic Revolution. 
 
On Tuesday the Wall Street Journal reported a chunk of that cash was loaded on wooden pallets and secretly airlifted to Iran in an unmarked cargo plane.&nbsp; 
 
&quot;This $400 million is actually money that the Iranians had paid into a US account in 1979 as part of a transaction to procure military equipment,&quot; said White House spokesman Josh Earnest. 
 
&quot;The fact of the matter is the United States does not have a banking relationship with Iran,&quot; Earnest said, explaining the airlift. 
 
Earnest heatedly denied accusations that a ransom was paid. 
 
&quot;It is against the policy of the United States to pay ransom for hostages.&quot; 
 
Republicans, who have spent weeks reeling from scandals over the party&#39;s presidential nominee Donald Trump, leapt at the opportunity to go on the attack. 
 
&quot;If true, this report confirms our longstanding suspicion that the administration paid a ransom in exchange for Americans unjustly detained in Iran,&quot; said house speaker Paul Ryan. 
 
&quot;It would also mark another chapter in the ongoing saga of misleading the American people to sell this dangerous nuclear deal.&quot; 
 
&quot;Yet again, the public deserves an explanation of the lengths this administration went to in order to accommodate the world`s leading state sponsor of terrorism.&quot; 
 
Republicans had alleged that Iran would use a sanctions windfall worth hundreds of billions of dollars to fund terrorism. 
 
Trump issued a statement on what he called the &quot;terror money airlift,&quot; saying the money would &quot;undoubtedly find its way into the hands of terrorists.&quot; 
 
Earnest pushed back on Republicans&#39; assertions. 
 
&quot;People who made that prediction were either badly misinformed or lying to the American public, and I`ll leave it to them to explain why their predictions didn`t come true,&quot; he said. 
 
The White House and independent experts have insisted the funds would be much less than Republicans predicted and most of the cash would have to be spent on fixing Iran`s economy. 
 
&quot;We know that Iran supports Hezbollah and the Assad regime, and it certainly is possible that some of the money that Iran has is being used for those purposes, too,&quot; said Earnest. 
 
&quot;But the bulk of the money we know has been going to shoring up their economic weakness, and that`s exactly what we predicted.&quot; 
 
&quot;They used that money to prop up their currency that had been significantly devalued by the sanctions regime.&quot; 
 
The House Oversight Committee Wednesday requested in a letter to secretary of state John Kerry that he testify before the panel about the &quot;contemporaneous hostage release and cash delivery.&quot; 
 
The State Department said it had received the note and would respond. 
 
(AFP)

Iran had transferred $400 million into US account in 1979 when states had no banking relations with it, explained White House spokesperson

The White House on Wednesday denied renewed accusations that it paid Iran ransom for the release of four American prisoners, carrying a tidal wave of condemnations from Republicans. Amid revelations that the US helped airlift $400 million worth of Swiss Francs and Euros to Iran after a prisoner release, the White House insisted the two were not linked. In January, five American prisoners were released as Washington granted clemency to seven Iranians and withdrew arrest warrants for 14 others. Within hours President Barack Obama announced he had also agreed to repay $1.7 billion owed to Tehran -- one of a string of agreements that followed a deal to curb Iran's nuclear program. The White House said it was returning cash from a 1970s Iranian military order that was not fulfilled because of the Islamic Revolution. On Tuesday the Wall Street Journal reported a chunk of that cash was loaded on wooden pallets and secretly airlifted to Iran in an unmarked cargo plane. "This $400 million is actually money that the Iranians had paid into a US account in 1979 as part of a transaction to procure military equipment," said White House spokesman Josh Earnest. "The fact of the matter is the United States does not have a banking relationship with Iran," Earnest said, explaining the airlift. Earnest heatedly denied accusations that a ransom was paid. "It is against the policy of the United States to pay ransom for hostages." Republicans, who have spent weeks reeling from scandals over the party's presidential nominee Donald Trump, leapt at the opportunity to go on the attack. "If true, this report confirms our longstanding suspicion that the administration paid a ransom in exchange for Americans unjustly detained in Iran," said house speaker Paul Ryan. "It would also mark another chapter in the ongoing saga of misleading the American people to sell this dangerous nuclear deal." "Yet again, the public deserves an explanation of the lengths this administration went to in order to accommodate the world`s leading state sponsor of terrorism." Republicans had alleged that Iran would use a sanctions windfall worth hundreds of billions of dollars to fund terrorism. Trump issued a statement on what he called the "terror money airlift," saying the money would "undoubtedly find its way into the hands of terrorists." Earnest pushed back on Republicans' assertions. "People who made that prediction were either badly misinformed or lying to the American public, and I`ll leave it to them to explain why their predictions didn`t come true," he said. The White House and independent experts have insisted the funds would be much less than Republicans predicted and most of the cash would have to be spent on fixing Iran`s economy. "We know that Iran supports Hezbollah and the Assad regime, and it certainly is possible that some of the money that Iran has is being used for those purposes, too," said Earnest. "But the bulk of the money we know has been going to shoring up their economic weakness, and that`s exactly what we predicted." "They used that money to prop up their currency that had been significantly devalued by the sanctions regime." The House Oversight Committee Wednesday requested in a letter to secretary of state John Kerry that he testify before the panel about the "contemporaneous hostage release and cash delivery." The State Department said it had received the note and would respond. (AFP)

US says it did not pay ransom to Iran

A court in Bangladesh on Thursday allowed police to detain two men over the attack claimed by militant group Islamic State on a cafe in the capital, Dhaka, that killed 20 hostages, mostly foreigners. 
 
The case has drawn criticism from human rights groups who say the suspects were illegally detained and denied access to a lawyer. A lawyer for one of the two men, Hasnat Karim, said his client was innocent and demanded his immediate release.&nbsp; 
 
Karim, who holds dual British and Bangladeshi citizenship, and Tahmid Hasib Khan, a student of Toronto University, were dining separately with family and friends when gunmen stormed the Holey Artisan Bakery on the evening of July 1. 
 
The suspected Islamist militants singled out non-Muslims and foreigners, killing Italians, Japanese, an American and an Indian before security forces stormed the eatery to end the 12-hour siege. Two police also died in the operation. 
 
On Thursday, a Dhaka court remanded the men in custody for eight days for interrogation, with police official Masudur Rahman telling reporters they had been arrested on Wednesday night &quot;from two different places&quot;.&nbsp; 
 
Unknown location 
 
The police assertion of arrests at different sites appeared to run counter to relatives&#39; statements that the men were held at unknown locations after the attack. 
 
&quot;The authorities have finally admitted that Mr Karim is in their custody,&quot; his London-based lawyer, Rodney Dixon, told Reuters in a statement. 
 
&quot;They have had more than sufficient time to make any inquiries. There is clearly no evidence to charge him and he should be let go without any further delay.&quot; 
 
Rights group Amnesty International has criticised the detention of the men as having denied them their fundamental right to legal representation. 
 
The formal arrests take to seven the tally for the cafe attack, which the government blames on local militants, along with another, on July 26, in which police killed nine militants believed to be plotting a similar assault. 
 
The government has dismissed suggestions that Islamic State has a presence in Bangladesh, even though &#39;selfies&#39; of some of the attackers posing with an automatic rifle were posted on the jihadi group&#39;s propaganda outlets during the siege. 
 
In the past year, al Qaeda and Islamic State have made competing claims over the killings of liberals and religious minorities in the mostly Muslim nation of 160 million. 
 
Karim and Khan were among 32 survivors rescued by police and taken into custody for questioning. Police released the others soon after, but the two men&#39;s families said they had not returned. 
 
Karim, a 47-year-old engineer, was at the cafe with his family to celebrate his daughter&#39;s 13th birthday. 
 
Relatives of Khan, 22, told the New York Times that the student, who has epilepsy, had been beaten and denied medical attention after being held. 
 
Khan&#39;s father, reached by telephone, declined to comment. 
 
(Reuters)

Amnesty International has criticised the detention of the men as having denied them their fundamental right to legal representation

A court in Bangladesh on Thursday allowed police to detain two men over the attack claimed by militant group Islamic State on a cafe in the capital, Dhaka, that killed 20 hostages, mostly foreigners. The case has drawn criticism from human rights groups who say the suspects were illegally detained and denied access to a lawyer. A lawyer for one of the two men, Hasnat Karim, said his client was innocent and demanded his immediate release. Karim, who holds dual British and Bangladeshi citizenship, and Tahmid Hasib Khan, a student of Toronto University, were dining separately with family and friends when gunmen stormed the Holey Artisan Bakery on the evening of July 1. The suspected Islamist militants singled out non-Muslims and foreigners, killing Italians, Japanese, an American and an Indian before security forces stormed the eatery to end the 12-hour siege. Two police also died in the operation. On Thursday, a Dhaka court remanded the men in custody for eight days for interrogation, with police official Masudur Rahman telling reporters they had been arrested on Wednesday night "from two different places". Unknown location The police assertion of arrests at different sites appeared to run counter to relatives' statements that the men were held at unknown locations after the attack. "The authorities have finally admitted that Mr Karim is in their custody," his London-based lawyer, Rodney Dixon, told Reuters in a statement. "They have had more than sufficient time to make any inquiries. There is clearly no evidence to charge him and he should be let go without any further delay." Rights group Amnesty International has criticised the detention of the men as having denied them their fundamental right to legal representation. The formal arrests take to seven the tally for the cafe attack, which the government blames on local militants, along with another, on July 26, in which police killed nine militants believed to be plotting a similar assault. The government has dismissed suggestions that Islamic State has a presence in Bangladesh, even though 'selfies' of some of the attackers posing with an automatic rifle were posted on the jihadi group's propaganda outlets during the siege. In the past year, al Qaeda and Islamic State have made competing claims over the killings of liberals and religious minorities in the mostly Muslim nation of 160 million. Karim and Khan were among 32 survivors rescued by police and taken into custody for questioning. Police released the others soon after, but the two men's families said they had not returned. Karim, a 47-year-old engineer, was at the cafe with his family to celebrate his daughter's 13th birthday. Relatives of Khan, 22, told the New York Times that the student, who has epilepsy, had been beaten and denied medical attention after being held. Khan's father, reached by telephone, declined to comment. (Reuters)

Bangladesh detains two over July cafe attack that killed 20 hostages

Seven Italian nationals are thought to be among the hostages taken by gunmen who stormed a cafe popular with foreigners in the capital of Bangladesh on Friday, Italian state television said quoting the Italian ambassador to Bangladesh. 
 
Gunmen stormed a restaurant in the diplomatic quarter of Dhaka and took about 20 people hostage, including several foreigners, in an attack claimed by Islamic State. 
 
State TV RAI quoted the Italian ambassador in Dhaka, Mario Palma, as saying the seven Italians were businessmen. 
 
An Italian foreign ministry source said one Italian hostage had escaped. Italian media said the escaped man told police there were seven Italians still inside.&nbsp; 
 
(Reuters)

One Italian man managed to escape, and it was he who told authorities seven of his countrymen remained

Seven Italian nationals are thought to be among the hostages taken by gunmen who stormed a cafe popular with foreigners in the capital of Bangladesh on Friday, Italian state television said quoting the Italian ambassador to Bangladesh. Gunmen stormed a restaurant in the diplomatic quarter of Dhaka and took about 20 people hostage, including several foreigners, in an attack claimed by Islamic State. State TV RAI quoted the Italian ambassador in Dhaka, Mario Palma, as saying the seven Italians were businessmen. An Italian foreign ministry source said one Italian hostage had escaped. Italian media said the escaped man told police there were seven Italians still inside. (Reuters)

Seven Italians among Dhaka hostages

The suicide attackers who launched a deadly Istanbul airport assault were planning to take dozens of passengers hostage, Turkish media reported today, as CCTV images of the bombers&#39; faces emerged. 
 
Turkish officials have pointed fingers at the Islamic State for Tuesday night&#39;s gun and bomb attack at Ataturk airport, which left 44 people dead including 19 foreigners. 
 
The private NTV network reported that Istanbul police had detained 11 suspected IS militants over the attack, in addition to 13 rounded up on Thursday and another nine arrested in the western port city of Izmir. 
 
Officials say the men behind the latest in a series of deadly attacks to hit Turkey were of Russian, Uzbek and Kyrgyz nationalities. 
 
Turkish media identified the mastermind of the airport attack as Akhmet Chatayev, a Chechen, adding that he had led an IS cell in Istanbul and found accommodation for the bombers.&nbsp; 
 
Chatayev allegedly organised two deadly bombings this year in the heart of the city&#39;s Sultanahmet tourist district and the busy Istiklal shopping street, the Hurriyet newspaper said. 
 
The pro-government Sabah newspaper reported that the attackers scouted the scene and planned to take dozens of passengers hostage before carrying out a massacre. 
 
However, they began the assault early after attracting suspicion, Sabah said. 
 
CCTV images released by the police show the three alleged attackers arriving in dark coats over their suicide vests - clothing that was much too heavy for a hot summer night. 
 
More images show a plainclothes police officer confronting one of the men by an elevator and asking to see his identification. The attacker pulls out a gun and shoots him. Turkey has been rocked by a series of attacks in the past year. IS jihadists or Kurdish rebels have been blamed. 
 
The attack sparked global condemnation, with consuls from a dozen countries around Europe and beyond gathering at the airport today to lay flowers in memory of the victims. 
 
Hundreds of mourners also gathered in Istanbul on Thursday for the funeral of popular 28-year-old teacher Huseyin Tunc, who was at the airport to welcome a friend. 
 
&quot;We still can&#39;t believe it,&quot; one of his pupils, Batuhan Karabey, said, adding, &quot;He was more than a teacher to us - he was like a big brother, helping us a lot. Really, I can&#39;t believe it&#39;s true.&quot; 
 
The Hurriyet newspaper reported that the bombers had rented a flat in Istanbul&#39;s Fatih district, home to many Syrians and other Arabs, and paid 24,000 Turkish Lira (7,500 Euros) in advance for a year&#39;s rent. 
 
The police raided the apartment after the attack, according to a neighbour, who said the bombers kept the curtains drawn. She never saw the attackers, but she heard them, and complained to local neighbourhood officials about a strange smell. 
 
&quot;A very weird, chemical smell,&quot; she told Hurriyet, adding, &quot;Police came after the bombing... I lived on top of the bomb.&quot; 
 
Hurriyet also quoted a local plumber, identified only by his initials ES, who says one of the attackers came to his shop to ask if he could fix their tap. 
 
&quot;He spoke in broken Turkish. He took me home,&quot; the plumber said. 
 
&quot;I changed the tap. I saw three people inside. They looked like bandits. One always stood by me. I left after changing the tap. They paid me 20 Turkish Lira,&quot; ES said. 
 
(AFP)

Turkish officials say the 3 bombers were a Russian, an Uzbek and a Kyrgyz national

The suicide attackers who launched a deadly Istanbul airport assault were planning to take dozens of passengers hostage, Turkish media reported today, as CCTV images of the bombers' faces emerged. Turkish officials have pointed fingers at the Islamic State for Tuesday night's gun and bomb attack at Ataturk airport, which left 44 people dead including 19 foreigners. The private NTV network reported that Istanbul police had detained 11 suspected IS militants over the attack, in addition to 13 rounded up on Thursday and another nine arrested in the western port city of Izmir. Officials say the men behind the latest in a series of deadly attacks to hit Turkey were of Russian, Uzbek and Kyrgyz nationalities. Turkish media identified the mastermind of the airport attack as Akhmet Chatayev, a Chechen, adding that he had led an IS cell in Istanbul and found accommodation for the bombers. Chatayev allegedly organised two deadly bombings this year in the heart of the city's Sultanahmet tourist district and the busy Istiklal shopping street, the Hurriyet newspaper said. The pro-government Sabah newspaper reported that the attackers scouted the scene and planned to take dozens of passengers hostage before carrying out a massacre. However, they began the assault early after attracting suspicion, Sabah said. CCTV images released by the police show the three alleged attackers arriving in dark coats over their suicide vests - clothing that was much too heavy for a hot summer night. More images show a plainclothes police officer confronting one of the men by an elevator and asking to see his identification. The attacker pulls out a gun and shoots him. Turkey has been rocked by a series of attacks in the past year. IS jihadists or Kurdish rebels have been blamed. The attack sparked global condemnation, with consuls from a dozen countries around Europe and beyond gathering at the airport today to lay flowers in memory of the victims. Hundreds of mourners also gathered in Istanbul on Thursday for the funeral of popular 28-year-old teacher Huseyin Tunc, who was at the airport to welcome a friend. "We still can't believe it," one of his pupils, Batuhan Karabey, said, adding, "He was more than a teacher to us - he was like a big brother, helping us a lot. Really, I can't believe it's true." The Hurriyet newspaper reported that the bombers had rented a flat in Istanbul's Fatih district, home to many Syrians and other Arabs, and paid 24,000 Turkish Lira (7,500 Euros) in advance for a year's rent. The police raided the apartment after the attack, according to a neighbour, who said the bombers kept the curtains drawn. She never saw the attackers, but she heard them, and complained to local neighbourhood officials about a strange smell. "A very weird, chemical smell," she told Hurriyet, adding, "Police came after the bombing... I lived on top of the bomb." Hurriyet also quoted a local plumber, identified only by his initials ES, who says one of the attackers came to his shop to ask if he could fix their tap. "He spoke in broken Turkish. He took me home," the plumber said. "I changed the tap. I saw three people inside. They looked like bandits. One always stood by me. I left after changing the tap. They paid me 20 Turkish Lira," ES said. (AFP)

Istanbul airport bombers planned to take hostages

The Taliban have released 21 of some two dozen hostages pulled from their vehicles on a highway in southern Afghanistan, officials said today, a day after they were abducted by the militants.&nbsp; 
 
The passengers were kidnapped in Washer district of volatile Helmand province as they were travelling on a bus and two trucks from southern Kandahar to western Herat province. Officials said on Tuesday that an estimated 25 people were taken.&nbsp; 
 
&quot;Twenty-one of them have been released and are now with the police,&quot; the Helmand governor`s spokesman Omar Zwak said. 
 
Afghan army corps in southern Afghanistan said they were freed in an operation on Tuesday evening in Marja district of Helmand. 
 
But the Taliban denied the claim, saying they decided to free the hostages after they were found to be &quot;innocent&quot;. 
 
The insurgents had earlier said they were targeting Afghan government officials aboard the vehicles. 
 
&quot;We found 21 of them innocent and released them,&quot; Taliban spokesman Qari Yousuf Ahmadi told AFP, saying six others were still being held captive, a number that could not be immediately verified by officials. 
 
Highways in Afghanistan passing through insurgency-prone areas have become exceedingly dangerous, with the Taliban and other armed groups frequently kidnapping or killing travellers. 
 
Earlier this month, gunmen abducted 40 people in northern Kunduz province, releasing some later, but an unknown number of others remain in Taliban captivity. 
 
(AFP)

The insurgents said they were targeting Afghan government officials aboard the vehicles.

The Taliban have released 21 of some two dozen hostages pulled from their vehicles on a highway in southern Afghanistan, officials said today, a day after they were abducted by the militants. The passengers were kidnapped in Washer district of volatile Helmand province as they were travelling on a bus and two trucks from southern Kandahar to western Herat province. Officials said on Tuesday that an estimated 25 people were taken. "Twenty-one of them have been released and are now with the police," the Helmand governor`s spokesman Omar Zwak said. Afghan army corps in southern Afghanistan said they were freed in an operation on Tuesday evening in Marja district of Helmand. But the Taliban denied the claim, saying they decided to free the hostages after they were found to be "innocent". The insurgents had earlier said they were targeting Afghan government officials aboard the vehicles. "We found 21 of them innocent and released them," Taliban spokesman Qari Yousuf Ahmadi told AFP, saying six others were still being held captive, a number that could not be immediately verified by officials. Highways in Afghanistan passing through insurgency-prone areas have become exceedingly dangerous, with the Taliban and other armed groups frequently kidnapping or killing travellers. Earlier this month, gunmen abducted 40 people in northern Kunduz province, releasing some later, but an unknown number of others remain in Taliban captivity. (AFP)

Afghan Taliban release 21 hostages a day after abducting them

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