Unidentified attackers on Friday night traded gunfire with police near a restaurant in high-security Gulshan diplomatic area in the Bangladesh capital where several people, including foreigners, are believed to be trapped.
According to police, about five armed men entered Holey Artisan Bakery, a restaurant popular with foreigners, and opened gunfire around 9:20 PM (local time). Several foreigners are feared to have been taken hostages inside the restaurant, police said.
The US embassy in Dhaka tweeted that there were “reports of shooting and hostage situation”.
A large number of policemen and Rapid Action Battalion cordoned off the restaurant. The attackers hurled bombs and were firing intermittently, injuring some policemen and people.
A kitchen staff of the bakery, who managed to escape, said several armed men entered the restaurant around 8:45 PM and took the chief chef hostage, local media reported. “They set off several crude bombs triggering panic,” he added.
Police negotiators were trying to establish communication with the suspected attackers holed up in the restaurant to know of there demands, local media has reported.
