Roundup: 20 foreigners, two police officers killed in Bangladesh's worst hostage crisis

Gunmen killed 20 foreigners soon after they stormed a Spanish restaurant in the capital of Dhaka in Bangladesh's worst hostage crisis, a spokesman of the Bangladesh Army said on Saturday.

Director of Military Operations Brigadier General Naim Ashfaq Chowdhury did not disclose nationality of the victims.

But sources said all the victims were foreign nationals, mostly Italians and Japanese. Two senior police officers were also killed in the early hours of the attack on Friday night in the Holey Artisan Bakery restaurant, a popular destination of foreigners.

Chowdhury told a press briefing that most of the victims were killed by slitting throats.

He also said six attackers were killed during an armed raid on Saturday morning that ended the 13-hour siege in Dhaka's diplomatic enclave Gulshan.

"We've managed to capture one attacker alive," he said.

Some 13 hostages, including one Japanese and two Sri Lankans, were rescued after a two-hour opration by Army commandos.

After planning and waiting through the night, Bangladesh Army-led joint forces launched the assault at around 7:40 a.m. local time (0140 GMT) Saturday.

More than 1,000 rounds of bullets were reportedly fired and explosions were heard in the first 30 minutes of the raid when army men in armored vehicles tore down a wall of the cafe and the commandos galloped into it through the breach.

Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina called the incident a "militant attack."

Speaking at a function on Saturday, she reiterated her commitment to combat militancy and terrorism in the country at any cost and appreciated the law enforcers - Bangladesh Army, Bangladesh Navy, police, Rapid Action Battalion and Border Guard Bangladesh.

It is the first attack on an establishment in Bangladesh claimed by the Islamic State (IS) group.

Around five hours into the attack, according to a jihadist threat monitoring portal, SITE Intelligence Group, IS claimed its responsibility of attacking the upmarket restaurant.

The gunmen stormed the restaurant in Bangladesh capital Dhaka's diplomatic enclave Gulshan on Friday night.

The authenticity of the IS claim has not been confirmed by the Bangladesh police.

At least 40 people, including senior police officials, were injured in the incident.

Sources said the gunmen demanded release of a leader of banned militant outfit Jama'at-ul-Mujahideen Bangladesh (JMB) who has recently been arrested.

JMB, campaigning for the establishment of Islamic rule in Bangladesh, carried out a series of bombings in 63 out of the country's 64 districts, including capital Dhaka on Aug. 17, 2005, leaving two people dead and 150 others injured.

Hundreds of JMB leaders and activists were rounded up while six top leaders of the group, including Shaikh Abdur Rahman, were hanged in 2007.

Muslim-majority Bangladesh has been facing a surge in violent attacks in the recent months in which dozens of secularists and other religious groups have also been targeted.

Assailants severely injured a Hindu priest early Saturday in southwestern Satkhira district, a day after the killing of another Hindu priest and a Buddhist man in southeastern Banderban.

Earlier two people, including a writer of an LGBT (lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender) magazine, were hacked to death by unidentified assailants in Dhaka, days after an English professor was shot dead in a separate incident. Endit