Last updated, Bangladesh Army, paramilitary Border Guard Bangladesh, police and elite force Rapid Action Battalion pushed a joint drive to end the hostage crisis at Gulshan.

So far, 13 people have been rescued. Confirmed casualty toll still stands at two - the two police officers who were shot after midnight.

Our correspondents are reporting LIVE from the spot.

2:28pm: 13 ambulances have entered the cordoned-off area that is Holey Artisan Bakery in Gulshan Road no-79.

1:39pm: 20 hostages were killed beforehand, ISPR says in press briefing without mentioning identities or nationalities. They were mostly killed by sharp weapons.

1:31pm: 9 tanks and 9 jeeps of Bangladesh Army leaving the attack spot in Gulshan.

1:30pm: ISPR briefing media.

1:20pm: ISPR briefing set to begin in moments. Brig Gen Nayeem Ashfaque Chowdhury, director of military operations, will brief the media. With him, Lt Col Md MN Imrul Hassan, captain of paracommando unit, Mujibur Rahman, commander of 46th battalion, and media representatives of Rab, BGB, Bangladesh Navy and Bangladesh Air Force will be present.

1:08pm: Bodies of killed policemen - Banani police Officer-in-Charge Salauddin Khan and Robiul Islam, assistant commissioner of Uttara zone Detective Branch - have reached Dhaka Medical College Hospital morgue.

11:55am: Inter-Services Public Relation (ISPR), the mouthpiece of the military, will hold a press briefing at Dhaka Cantonment at 12:30am, a press release says.