Holey Artisan Bakery in Dhaka which was attacked on Friday night. (Photo: Reuters)

Bangladesh minister Hasanul Haq Inu on Sunday blamed Pakistan government and their Inter-Service Intelligence (ISI) for the Dhaka restaurant terror attack in which 20 foreign nationals were hacked to death.

He said that Pakistan's intelligence agency ISI had connections with the Jamaat-e-Islami cadres in the past too.

Information Minister Hasanul Haq also revealed that the Bangladesh government had sacked few Pakistani diplomats who were involved with armed networks.

"And recently few diplomats, who were working undercover in the Pakistan Embassy, were thrown out of the country because they were involved in armed networks," said the minister.

PAK GOVT, ISI HAVE RELATIONS WITH ARMED NETWORKS



Hasanul Haq went on to say that Pakistan government and the ISI network maintained clandestine relations with certain armed networks.

"They are openly supporting war criminals. So politically they are with Jamaat-e-Islami, politically they are with the militants. So that is a sad thing in the regional politics," he added.

NO ISIS, AL-QAEDA PRESENCE IN BANGLADESH

Following the incident, Bangladesh Home Minister Asaduzzaman Khan refuted the reports claiming presence of ISIS and Al-Qaeda.

"Let me clear it again, there are no ISIS or Al-Qaeda presence or existence in Bangladesh. The hostage takers were all home-grown terrorists and not members of ISIS or any other international Islamist outfits," said Khan .

On Friday night, 20 people were killed after gunmen barged into the upscale Holey Artisan Bakery in Gulshan locality of Dhaka. Six militants were killed and one was captured alive by the security forces.

Meanwhile, security has been beefed up in Dhaka and surrounding areas. Police are engaged in combing operations across sensitive points in the capital city.

Also read:

Dhaka attack: One of the terrorists was educated boy from rich family, who once met Shraddha Kapoor

Dhaka terrorists have no connection with Islamic State, says Bangladesh minister

Dhaka attack: Five of killed IS terrorists were Bangladeshi citizens and wanted by police

