International News

DHAKA, (APP/AFP): Armed militants killed 20 civilians
after taking them hostage in a Bangladesh cafe overnight and many of
the victims were hacked to death, an army spokesman said on Saturday.
“We’ve recovered 20 bodies. Most them had been brutally hacked
to death with sharp weapons,” Brigadier General Nayeem Ashfaq Chowdhury
told reporters in Dhaka, without giving the nationality of the victims.
Thirteen survivors were also rescued at the end of the siege
in an upmarket neighbourhood of the capital Dhaka, including three foreigners.
“Three of those who were rescued were foreigners, including
one Japanese and two Sri Lankans,” said the spokesman.
Officials had earlier said that six gunmen were killed when
security forces stormed the cafe on Saturday morning while two police officers were slain in a firefight that erupted at the beginning of
the siege on Friday night.