Foreign envoys commemorate victims

Foreign envoys stationed in Dhaka on Friday paid homage to 22 people who lost their lives during the Holey Artisan Bakery attack on July 1, 2016, reports UNB.

To mark the sixth anniversary of the attack, Japan's Ambassador in Bangladesh Ito Naoki, Indian High Commissioner Vikram Kumar Doraiswami, US Ambassador Peter Haas joined the Italian embassy in Dhaka in honoring the individuals who lost their lives.

"We remember Abinta Kabir, a US-Bangladeshi dual citizen and student at Emory University, as well as her Emory classmate Faraaz Hossain, who even when given the chance to save himself chose to remain with his friends," said the US embassy in Dhaka.

They also remembered Tarishi Jain, a sophomore at Berkeley and graduate of the American International School in Dhaka who had returned for a summer internship in Dhaka.

"We also remember the courage of the two police officers killed and the 25 officers wounded," said the US Embassy.

On this solemn occasion, the US reaffirmed its commitment in united effort to combat terrorism. "May all those lost rest in peace."

During the attack on Holey Artisan, 22 people, including 17 foreigners and two police officers, were killed on July 1, 2016.

In memory of the victims of the Holey Artisan attack, Doraiswami paid tribute at the memorial at the Italian embassy, at the site of the outrage, and at the police memorial in Gulshan, Dhaka

Five heavily-armed young men executed the audacious attack that drew inspiration from ISIS.

However, investigators never uncovered any evidence of direct operational training or support from ISIS headquarters.

The unlikely militants, all in their late teens or early 20s, were not madrasa students from the hinterland. They were city boys who grew up among Bangladesh's elite, having attended top private schools and universities in Bangladesh and abroad. Their pathways to radicalisation were not foreseen, are still not very well-understood, but would seem to have been abrupt and even rapid.

On the evening of July 1, a little after 9:00 pm, they made their move and laid siege to the upmarket cafe popular with expatriates - a calculated choice that paid off with maximum foreign casualties. Initially, they took everyone inside the cafe hostage before executing them based on nationality or religion. Some Bangladeshis were allowed to leave - one bravely refused to leave without his two foreign friends and died with them.

The victims included nine Italians, seven Japanese, one Indian, one Bangladesh-born American and two Bangladeshis.

Besides, two police officers called to the scene were also killed by grenades during the first wave of the attack - this demonstrated how well-armed they were, and law enforcers subsequently backed off to wait for specialist commandos to come in and do the job, causing a nightlong standoff.

Thirteen people, including three foreigners, were rescued while 20 bodies of the hostages were recovered from the restaurant after a successful operation led by the 1st Para-commando Battalion, an elite force in the Bangladesh Army, the following morning (July 2).

Five militants and one restaurant staff were killed and one suspected militant was arrested during the drive.

A case was filed with Gulshan thana in connection with what still stands as the deadliest terror attack ever in the country.

Later, the case was transferred to the Detective Branch of Dhaka Metropolitan Police.

Twenty-one people were identified behind the attack. Among them, 13 people were killed in gunfights at different times.

Police pressed charges against eight people in the case on July 23, 2018. The tribunal framed charges against them on November 26. On December 3, in the same year, the trial began with the deposition of witnesses.

On November 17, 2019, the tribunal set November 27 for delivering its verdict.

On November 27, seven men were sentenced to death for their roles in the Holey Artisan attack.