ISIS said nationals from 'crusader countries' were not safe 'as long as their aircraft are killing Muslims'

Bangladeshi Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina has declared two days of national mourning after the massacre

Gunmen then held security services in 12-hour standoff before elite troops moved in and shot them dead


Jihadist extremists hacked 20 people to death in a cafe in the Bangladeshi capital, Dhaka - sparing only those who could recite from the Koran - before they were gunned down by commandos.

Witnesses said seven Islamist radicals stormed the Holey Artisan bakery and cafe last night armed with assault weapons, pistols and 'sharp objects' before taking more than 30 people hostage.

They killed nine Italians, seven Japanese, an Indian, an American and two local men before elite commandos ended the 12-hour standoff by storming the cafe.

Six of the hostage-takers were killed and one was arrested.

WARNING: GRAPHIC CONTENT

SCROLL DOWN FOR VIDEO

Abinta Kabir, an American student from Miami, Florida, has been identified as one of the 20 foreigners killed during the ISIS attack on a cafe in the Bangladeshi capital of Dhaka last night

Kabir (far right), an undergraduate student at Emory University, Georgia, was visiting family and friends in Bangladesh at the time of the attack, a university spokesman said

Kabir died alongside Faraaz Hossain (right) who was originally from Bangladesh but had also been studying at Emory University, attending the college's business school

Hossain (center) had studied at Emory's campus in Oxford, Georgia, the same one attended by Kabir, then joined the business school after graduating

Bangladeshi Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina has declared two days of national mourning after the massacre in the upmarket Gulshan district of the city.

In a statement on television she said: 'It was an extremely heinous act. What kind of Muslims are these people? They don't have any religion.'

Most of the Italian victims were understood to work in the fashion industry, buying fabrics from Bangladesh.

Italy's footballers are wearing black armbands in memory of the victims when they play Germany tonight in their Euro 2016 quarter final in France.

Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe said the five men and two women who died worked for the country's foreign aid agency and 'were giving their all for the development of Bangladesh'.

ISIS posted pictures of five of the attackers online along with a statement: 'Let the people of the crusader countries know that there is no safety for them as long as their aircraft are killing Muslims.'

The statement is believed to be aimed at British and American air strikes in Syria and Iraq, although neither Italy or Japan are involved in that campaign.

The terrorists posed, with wide grins, in front of ISIS banners before committing the 'heinous' massacre

Bangladesh has seen an increased amount of Islamist terrorism in recent years with attacks on non-Muslims, bloggers, atheists, secular activists and even LGBT campaigners. But this is the first concerted attack on foreigners.

The American victim has been named as Abinta Kabir, from Miami, Florida.

Also among the dead were Faraaz Hossain, who attended business school at Emory University in Atlanta, and Tarushi Jain, 19, who studied at University of California's Berkeley campus.

Kabir, a sophomore at Emory's Oxford campus, was an American citizen, while Hossain was born in Bangladesh and Jain was of Indian origin.

A spokesman said: 'Emory University has learned that two Emory students, Abinta Kabir and Faraaz Hossain, were among those taken hostage and murdered by terrorists yesterday in the attack in Dhaka, Bangladesh.

'Abinta, who was from Miami, was a rising sophomore at Emory’s Oxford College.

'Faraaz, who was from Dhaka, was a graduate of Oxford College and a student at the university’s Goizueta Business School.

'The Emory community mourns this tragic and senseless loss of two members of our university family.

'Our thoughts and prayers go out on behalf of Faraaz and Abinta and their families and friends for strength and peace at this unspeakably sad time.'

Gianluigi Buffon (centre) and his Italian team-mates are wearing black armbands tonight - in memory of the dead - in their Euro 2016 quarter final against Germany in Bordeaux and there was a minute's applause before the game in honour of the victims in Dhaka

Tarushi Jain, 19, an Indian native who was studying at University of California, Berkeley, has also been identified among the dead

Sushma Swaraj, India's minister of external affairs, confirmed Jain's death today. She is believed to have been on holiday to Bangladesh at the time of the attack, where her father owns a textiles business

Gruesome: This is one of the images that was released by ISIS' media agency Amar, purportedly showing victims inside the Dhaka restaurant which was taken siege by Islamist militants on Friday night

Rita Katz, director of SITE Intelligence Group, told Mail Online she believes the images to be authentic

The trendy Holey Artisan Bakery and cafe (pictured) in the upmarket area of Gulshan was the target of the attack. It was popular with foreigners, many of whom worked for aid agencies or as garment buyers for the fashion industry

The Italian foreign ministry confirmed the dead as: Adele Puglisi, Marco Tondat, Claudia Maria D'Antona, Nadia Benedetti, Vincenzo D'Allestro, Maria Rivoli, Cristian Rossi, Claudio Cappelli, and Simona Monti.

Ms Monti's brother, Father Luca Monti, a priest in southern Italy, said he hoped 'this experience of martyrdom for my family and the blood of my sister Simona can help contribute to building a more just and brotherly world.'

Agnese Barolo, who lives in Dhaka, said one of the dead was the wife of an Italian businessman, who was killed by a machete.

She was found by her husband after he spent all night hiding behind a tree outside the cafe while the gunmen were inside.

Bangladeshi Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina Wazed declared two days of mourning for the victims to take place on Sunday and Monday.

Islam is a religion of peace. Stop killing in the name of the religion Sheikh Hasina, Bangladesh PM

She also thanked all those who had expressed their solidarity with Bangladesh, and vowed that terrorism would be exterminated at all costs.

Sheikh Hasina added: 'Islam is a religion of peace. Stop killing in the name of the religion. Please stop tarnishing our noble religion...I implore you to come back to the rightful path and uphold the pride of Islam.'

Army Brigadier General Naim Asraf Chowdhury said: 'Most of (the hostages) were killed mercilessly by sharp weapons last night.'

On Friday night, Bangladeshi resident Hasnat Karim said he brought his family to the cafe in order to celebrate his daughter's birthday.

Hasnat was too traumatised to say more than a few words about his ordeal, saying only that the hostage-takers 'did not misbehave with us'.

But he detailed to his father Rezaul how the gunmen - who were armed with automatic weapons, bombs and makeshift machetes - had split the diners into two groups.

Rezaul said: '(The foreigners) were taken to the upper floor and the Bangladeshis were kept around a table.'

He said his son told him the terrorists 'did not hit people who could recite verses from the Koran. The others were tortured'.

He added: 'The gunmen asked everyone inside to recite from the Koran. Those who recited were spared. The gunmen even gave them meals last night.'

Ruba Ahmed (centre), whose daughter Abinta Kabir was one of those killed last night, is pictured in Dhaka. Her daughter was studying in America but was visiting her family

An injured policeman is carried away after the attack in Dhaka on Friday night

Soldiers took up positions around the restaurant in case there were any further attacks

The Bangladeshi military positioned armoured personnel carriers on the streets to increase security

Troops took up strategic positions across Dhaka to discourage any further terrorist attacks

Relatives of some of those inside the restaurant gathered at the edge of the police cordon for news

Two marksmen stood holding their high-powered Dragunov sniper rifles after last night's rescue mission

Troops boarded Armoured Personnel Carriers after rescuing 13 hostages who here being held by ISIS

Elite Bangladeshi commandos stormed the building after siege of more than 12 hours, freeing some 13 hostages, in addition to another eight who manged to flee during the siege. Six of the terrorists were shot dead and one was arrested at the scene.

The ISIS media wing has claimed responsibility for the attack which was launched on the final Friday of Ramadan, as millions of Muslims prepare to celebrate the Eid holiday. The final ten days of Ramadan are the most solemn in the Islamic calendar.

Two police officers were killed, including a local police station chief, Mohammed Salahuddin, who was earlier injured in the shoot-out.

According to a local photojournalist, Mr Salahuddin was asked by his colleagues not to cross the cordon as he was not wearing a bullet-proof vest.

Just moments after he crossed the line, according to the Daily Star in Dhaka, he was shot.

A second policeman, Robiul Islam, assistant commissioner of Uttara zone Detective Branch, has also died in the shooting, top police officials confirmed.

Another 25 officers and one civilian are being treated for injuries from gunshots and shrapnel, with 10 people in a critical condition, according to hospital authorities.

ISIS has claimed responsibility for the attack, according to SITE Intelligence Group, which monitors jihadist activity.

SITE said ISIS' Amaq News Agency reported ISIS terrorists had carried out the attack.

Police stormed the cafe after being locked in a shoot-out with gunmen at a restaurant in the diplomatic quarter of the Bangladeshi capital of Dhaka, that is popular with foreigners

Casualties were evacuated from the scene in the back of army trucks and ambulance

People help an unidentified injured person after a group of gunmen attacked a cafe popular with foreigners in a diplomatic zone of the Bangladeshi capital Dhaka

A staff member who managed to escape said the gunmen shouted 'Allahu Akbar' as they attacked the cafe, shooting and throwing bombs

Speaking after the raid, Lieutenant Colonel Tuhin Mohammed Masud, commander of the Rapid Action Battalion said: 'We have gunned down at least six terrorists and the main building is cleared but the operation is still going on.'

A Japanese government spokesman said that a Japanese hostage was rescued with a gunshot wound but seven others are unaccounted for.

Deputy Chief Cabinet Secretary Koichi Hagiuda said the eight were together at the restaurant at the time of the attack.

One member of staff from the restaurant who managed to escape, Sumon Reza, told Bangladeshi newspaper The Daily Star: 'They blasted several crude bombs, causing wide-scale panic among everyone. I managed to flee during this confusion.'

He added: 'They came armed with pistols, swords and bombs. They shouted Allahu Akbar [God is great] before blasting the bombs.'

ISIS claimed 24 people had been killed and a further 40 were wounded in the attack. Images of the carnage were distributed on social media channels with links to the jihadi terror organisation.

Bangladeshi officials have said 20 have died with a number of others in a critical condition in hospital.

Hospital staff dealing with casualties said of the 26 people they are currently treating, ten are in a critical condition with six on life support.

Victims suffered broken bones and gunshot wounds.

Victims: Robiul Islam (left) and Mohammed Salahuddin (right) were named as the two police officers who died in a shootout with the attackers in Dhaka, according to local news site The Daily Star

A police officer assists an injured colleague outside the Holey Artisan Bakery cafe, before the siege developed

Two police officers injured earlier in the shoot-out were later confirmed dead, according to local media reports

Members of Rapid Action Battalion (RAB) surrounded the cafe and police negotiators tried to talk to the attackers but they were hell-bent on bloodshed, even if it meant their own deaths

Bangladeshi security personnel stand guard after gunmen stormed a restaurant in Dhaka's high-security diplomatic district