Dhaka attack victims’ bodies go home

Relatives of foreign hostages murdered in a Bangladeshi restaurant were in Dhaka Monday to take their loved ones’ bodies home.

Many were in tears as Prime Minister Shaikh Hasina laid wreaths on the coffins of the 20 killed in the siege at an upmarket cafe in the capital, by far the deadliest in a spate of recent attacks that have caused international alarm.

They included nine Italians, seven Japanese, a US citizen and a 19-year-old Indian student

Bangladeshi police are trying to confirm the names of the militants who attacked the restaurant, checking whether the identification of some by friends on social media is correct, officials said on Monday.

Daesh posted pictures of five fighters it said were involved in Friday’s killings in Dhaka’s diplomatic zone

“Let the people of the crusader countries know that there is no safety for them as long as their aircraft are killing Muslims,” it said in a statement

Posts on Facebook identified three of the five, whose grinning images appeared in front of a black flag, as Nibras Islam, Rohan Imtiaz and Meer Saameh Mubasheer.

Police have said all six gunmen killed were locals and five were on a government militant watch list. But they also said they were holding off before confirming their identities.

Home Minister Asaduzzaman Khan believes home-grown militants responsible for a wave of killings against minority groups in the past year and a half were to blame for Friday’s bloodshed.

The plan is to look for family members of the gunmen, conduct DNA tests and investigate their links to international groups, Rahman said.

Witnesses say the perpetrators of the attack, which the Daesh group has claimed, spared the lives of Muslims while herding foreigners to their deaths, killing many with machete-style weapons.

Among the mourners at the ceremony in a Dhaka stadium was Muksedur Rahman who described slain Italian textile trader Nadia Benedetti as a “great human being” who had worked to help Bangladeshi survivors of acid attacks.

“Nadia Benedetti had been working in Bangladesh for more than 20 years,” Rahman, a colleague of the Italian, told journalists.

“I can’t believe she had to die like this. We have to stand against such terrorism right now.”

Italy’s ambassador said Friday night’s attack on the Holey Artisan Bakery cafe was “unprecedented” and promised his country’s full support in tackling a rise in Islamist militancy in Bangladesh.

“This unprecedented attack is also an attack on the very identity of Bangladesh,” Mario Palma told reporters at the ceremony.

“You deserve all the cooperation from your friends all over the world who supported you for your struggle to achieve independence.”

The government said the bodies of the Italians and Japanese victims would be handed over to diplomats later Monday before being flown home.

The Indian student’s body was also being flown back to her hometown later on Monday.

US Secretary of State John Kerry offered Washington’s support in a telephone call to Hasina, whose government has been unable to stop a wave of Islamist attacks on foreigners and religious minorities in officially secular but mostly Muslim Bangladesh.

“(Kerry) encouraged the government of Bangladesh to conduct its investigation in accordance with the highest international standards and offered immediate assistance from US law enforcement, including the FBI,” said his spokesman John Kirby.

Bangladesh’s national police chief told reporters on Monday that the captured gunman was one of two people who have now been formally arrested over the hostage siege.

“Two people are in custody. We’ll file a case. We’ll know their identities after they are remanded and questioned,” Police Inspector General Shahidul Hoque said.

The government has repeatedly denied international militant networks have a presence in Bangladesh.

Analysts say the government is wary of acknowledging such groups are operating in Bangladesh for fear it could frighten off foreign investors.

But it has been criticised for failing to tackle a rise in Islamist attacks

source : gulfnews