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Local media outlets are reporting that a group of nine attackers have taken hostages inside a Bangladesh restaurant in a diplomatic zone in the country's capital. Wochit
An injured Bangladeshi policeman being assisted after a grenade attack at a restaurant nearby in the early hours of July 2, 2016 in Dhaka, Bangladesh.(Photo: Mahmud Hossain Opu/Getty Images)
The deadly hostage takeover of<span style="color: Red;">*</span>a bakery in the heart of Bangladesh’s capital of Dhaka on Friday is the latest in a series of grisly attacks linked to Islamic extremists since 2013.
The Islamic State claimed responsibility for the assault on<span style="color: Red;">*</span>Holey Artisan Bakery<span style="color: Red;">*</span>in the city's upscale diplomatic zone that left at least 20 civilians dead<span style="color: Red;">*</span>and dozens held hostage. Police officials later stormed the cafe in an intense standoff Saturday morning,<span style="color: Red;">*</span>killing six assailants and rescuing 13 captives.
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Earlier Friday, the group said one of its<span style="color: Red;">*</span>operatives hacked to death<span style="color: Red;">*</span>a Buddhist and a Hindu temple worker, according to SITE Intelligence Group, a U.S.-based organization that monitors extremist activity online.
The deaths are the latest in a series of dozens of Islamic State and Al-Qaeda-linked murders,<span style="color: Red;">*</span>often by hacking or stabbing but sometimes by shooting, mostly targeting writers, activists, foreigners and religious minorities in the majority<span style="color: Red;">*</span>Muslim country.
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Salma Muktadir, 34, an ad agency copywriter in Dhaka, said Friday's attack<span style="color: Red;">*</span>appears to be a high-profile escalation of the<span style="color: Red;">*</span>Islamist attacks in the South Asian country.
“Rampant attacks on bloggers, liberal<span style="color: Red;">*</span>intellectuals and minority Hindus and Christians suggest that the Islamic fundamentalists have penetrated society,” she<span style="color: Red;">*</span>said.
Over the past 18 months, 48 killings have been blamed on Islamic militants, with more than half claimed by the Islamic State, according to SITE.<span style="color: Red;">*</span>Al-Qaeda claimed responsibility for the majority<span style="color: Red;">*</span>of the others.
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The Islamic State also claimed responsibility for last month's hacking death of a Hindu priest, a Hindu monastery worker and a Christian grocer.
In April, the Al-Qaeda-linked Ansar-al-Islam group claimed responsibility for<span style="color: Red;">*</span>stabbing to death<span style="color: Red;">*</span>Xulhaz Mannan,<span style="color: Red;">*</span>a U.S. government employee and<span style="color: Red;">*</span>editor of an LGBT magazine,<span style="color: Red;">*</span>and friend Tanay Majumder<span style="color: Red;">*</span>in Dhaka. In a Twitter message, the group<span style="color: Red;">*</span>said<span style="color: Red;">*</span>it targeted the two<span style="color: Red;">*</span>because they were “pioneers of practicing and promoting homosexuality in Bangladesh” and were “working day and night to promote homosexuality."
The killings, which came just days after a university professor was hacked to death, drew calls for government action from Amnesty International.
"It is shocking that no one has been held to account for these horrific attacks and that almost no protection has been given to threatened members of civil society,"<span style="color: Red;">*</span>Champa Patel, Amnesty International’s South Asia Director said in a statement at the time. "Bangladeshi authorities have a legal responsibility to protect and respect the right to life. They must urgently focus their energies on protecting those who express their opinions bravely and without violence, and bringing the killers to justice.”
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The government insists neither the Islamic State nor<span style="color: Red;">*</span>Al-Qaeda<span style="color: Red;">*</span>have a foothold in Bangladesh, instead blaming homegrown militants and incitement by the country's Islamist political opposition.
“The situation in Bangladesh will only worsen as (the Islamic State)<span style="color: Red;">*</span>and (Al-Qaeda)<span style="color: Red;">*</span>continue their deadly rivalry,” SITE Director Rita Katz said in April. “It is crucial that security personnel in the country acknowledge and study such networks within their borders."
Last month, Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina's office began a nationwide crackdown on the incidents, arresting thousands of people after the number of attacks increased.
Muktadir<span style="color: Red;">*</span>said she believed Friday's bakery attack<span style="color: Red;">*</span>would undermine the credibility of Hasina, who she called "weak and clueless."
“There is a sense of fear in Dhaka right now,” Muktadir said. "People fear for their future. The attack in such a high-security zone has left many people questioning the ability of the current government."
Contributing:<span style="color: Red;">*</span>Naila Inayat in Lahore, Pakistan
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