DHAKA: Relatives, friends and well-wishers laid flowers at a somber remembrance service in Dhaka on Monday in honour of the victims of a deadly terrorist attack on a restaurant in the Bangladeshi capital three years ago.
Militants carried out the attack on Holey Artisan Bakery in Dhaka’s upscale Gulshan diplomatic area on July 1, 2016, killing more than 20 people, including foreign nationals, and holding others hostage for hours.
Nine Italians, seven Japanese, one Indian and three Bangladeshi nationals were killed by the militants before army commandos stormed the eatery the following morning.
The commandos killed five militants and a chef, who was mistaken for an associate of the attackers.
Two policemen were also killed during the 12-hour siege.
Representatives from the Bangladesh police, political parties,cultural organisations and diplomatic missions in Dhaka paid respect to the victims by placing floral wreaths at the site of the cafe.
“We will have to work together to thwart the militants in Bangladesh,” senior police officer Maruf Hasan, one of the survivors of the cafe attack, told reporters after placing the flowers.
Hasan was one of the first police officers to encounter the militants and sustained injuries after the assailants threw a hand grenade toward the policemen. — dpa
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