13 hostages rescued as operation ends in Dhaka restaurant si

A top commander says thirteen hostages have been rescued after security forces ended a siege at a restaurant in the Bangladesh capital Dhaka.

Tuhin Mohammad Masud is a commander of the elite rapid Action Battalion which stormed the cafe.  He says three of the hostages are foreigners, and ten are locals. Initial reports said gunmen took about 20 people hostage at a cafe in the diplomatic quarter of the city at around 9:30 PM local time Friday.

But a security official told Reuters that the exact number of gunmen and their hostages was unclear. Italian state television TV RAI had quoted the Italian ambassador to Bangladesh as saying seven Italians were among the hostages. Several hours after the hostage-taking, the assailants exchanged sporadic gunfire with police.

The Islamic State militant group has claimed responsibility and said that 24 people inside the building had been killed.  But Bangladeshi police denied those claims, saying that two police officers had been killed and more than 20 people wounded during the initial gunfight.