Gunmen Open Fire, Take Hostages In Bangladeshi Diplomatic Zone
The motive for the attack was not immediately known as U.S. diplomatic officials told people to shelter in place.
Bangladeshi security personnel stand guard near a restaurant.
Associated Press
As many as nine gunmen opened fire Friday at a restaurant in Dhaka, Bangladesh, taking an unknown number of hostages in the process. The attack took place in the diplomatic area of the nation’s capital, officials said.
The incident took place at the Holey Artisan Bakery around 9:20 p.m. local time, according to the Associated Press, citing Bangladeshi media. The attackers’ identities or motives were not immediately known.
The U.S. Embassy in Dhaka tweeted the alert, and told people to take shelter as the news developed.
One witness told Reuters that the situation “looked quite bad.”
On June 30, the State Department announced that Al-Qaeda in the Indian Subcontinent (AQIS) had been designated a foreign terrorist organization.
The group was responsible for killing activists and writers in Bangladesh, including a U.S. citizen Avijit Roy, an embassy employee and LGBT activist Xulhaz Mannan, and Bangladeshis Oyasiqur Rahman Babu, Ahmed Rajib Haideer, and A.K.M. Shafiul Islam.