International News

DHAKA, July 6, (APP/AFP) – An eerie silence pervades the restaurants and shopping malls in Dhaka’s diplomatic quarter, usually teeming with well-heeled urbanites, now standing empty since the killing of 20 hostages at a popular cafe.
Five days after the brutal siege at the Holey Artisan Bakery in the
Bangladeshi capital, many establishments remain closed, with shaken residents of Gulshan too afraid to venture out.
“Our guest numbers have gone down dramatically so the management took the decision to keep it shut for a while,” said Abdul Mazid, a guard at Meraki, a well-known restaurant in the neighbourhood.
The run-up to Eid celebrations that mark the end of the holy month of
Ramzan usually see shopping malls overflowing with crowds and millions of
dollars changing hands in just a few days.
But this year Gulshan DCC market, usually bustling with Eid shoppers ahead of the biggest festival in the Muslim calendar, stood deserted.
At least five gunmen stormed the bakery on Friday evening, sparking an 11-hour stand-off with police that saw victims murdered with machetes, most of them Italian or Japanese.
Around the corner from the site of the bloodbath, Thai restaurant Soi 71 and neighbouring Korean diner Suaron, which usually remain lively past
midnight, were shuttered Tuesday.
“Ours is a happening business, it’s hard to believe how quiet it has become over the past few days,” said Mohammad Farhan, manager of the upmarket Butlers Chocolate Cafe, where waiters were standing around.
“It has just turned upside down.”