Hostage crisis leaves 28 dead in Bangladesh

DHAKA, Bangladesh—The hostages were given a test: recite verses from the Quran, or be punished, according to a witness.

Those who passed were allowed to eat. Those who failed were tortured and slain.

The dramatic, 10-hour hostage crisis that gripped Bangladesh’s diplomatic zone ended on Saturday morning with at least 28 dead, including six of the attackers, as commandos raided the popular restaurant where heavily armed attackers were holding dozens of foreigners and Bangladeshis prisoner while hurling bombs and engaging in a gunbattle with security forces.

The victims included 20 hostages, mostly foreigners, and two Bangladeshi police officers.

The attack marks an escalation in militant violence that has hit the traditionally moderate Muslim-majority nation with increasing frequency in recent months, with the extremists demanding the secular government set up Islamic rule.

Most previous attacks have involved machete-wielding men singling out individual activists, foreigners and religious minorities.

But Friday night’s attack was different, more coordinated, with the attackers brandishing assault rifles as they shouted “Allahu Akbar” (God is Great) and stormed the Holey Artisan Bakery in Dhaka’s Gulshan area while dozens of foreigners and Bangladeshis were dining out during the Ramadan holy month.

The gunmen, initially firing blanks, ordered restaurant workers to switch off the lights, and they draped black cloths over closed-circuit cameras, according to a survivor, who spoke with local TV channel ATN News.

He and others, including kitchen staff, managed to escape by running to the rooftop or out the back door.