Seven Japanese confirmed dead in Bangladesh attack

Militants killed 20 people inside an upmarket restaurant in Dhaka before security forces ended a 12-hour standoff

TOKYO: Seven Japanese citizens have been confirmed dead in the attack by militants in Bangladesh's capital, Japanese Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga said on Saturday.

Militants killed 20 people inside an upmarket restaurant in Dhaka before security forces stormed the building and ended a 12-hour standoff.

Armed militants killed 20 civilians after taking them hostage in a Bangladesh cafe overnight and many of the victims were hacked to death.



Thirteen survivors were also rescued at the end of the siege in an upmarket neighbourhood of the capital Dhaka, including three foreigners.

Bangladesh has been reeling from a wave of murders of religious minorities and secular activists by suspected militants.

But those murders generally only involved a handful of assailants and the latest attack appears to have been on a much bigger scale and the first time that people were held hostage.