 | This article needs to beupdated. Please help update this article to reflect recent events or newly available information.(January 2025) |
| Operation Thunderbolt 2016 | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Part ofTerrorism in Bangladesh | |||||||
 Location of the attack within Dhaka | |||||||
| |||||||
| Belligerents | |||||||
 Bangladesh |  Islamic State | ||||||
| Units involved | |||||||
 Islamic State – Bengal Province | |||||||
| Casualties and losses | |||||||
| 2 police officers killed, 40+ wounded | 5[1] | ||||||
| 29 civilians killed[2][3] | |||||||
 | |||||||
| ||
|---|---|---|
First Premiership (1996–2001) Opposition Leader (2001–2009) Second Premiership (2009–2024)
Resignation and Exile (2024-present)
Elections Ministries National Projects | ||
| Gallery: Picture, Sound, Video | ||
On the night of 1 July 2016, at 21:20Bangladesh Standard Time (UTC+06:00),[4] fiveIslamic State (IS) terrorists took hostages and opened fire on theHoley Artisan Bakery[5] inGulshan Thana jurisdiction in Dhaka, Bangladesh.[6] The militants entered the bakery with crude bombs, machetes, pistols, and took several dozen hostages, including foreign nationals as well. In the immediate response, whileDhaka Metropolitan Police tried to regain control of the bakery, two police officers were shot dead by the assailants.[7]
By the end of the security forces' operation, 29 people were killed, including 20 hostages (17 foreigners and 3 Bangladeshis), two police officers, five terrorists, and two bakery staff.[8][9] After the police failed to breach the bakery and secure the hostages, they set up a perimeter along with theRapid Action Battalion andBorder Guard Bangladesh. Very early on 2 July (around 03:00), it was decided that theBangladesh Armed Forces would launch a counter-assault namedOperation Thunderbolt.[10] The assault was led by the1st Para-commando Battalion, an elite force in theBangladesh Army under the leadership of operational commander Brigadier GeneralMujibur Rahman, and began at 07:40.[11] According to Bangladesh'sInspector General of Police, all[1] of the attackers were Bangladeshi citizens.[12] IS claimed responsibility for the incident and released photographs of the gunmen, but then-Home MinisterAsaduzzaman Khan stated that the perpetrators belonged toJamaat-ul-Mujahideen and were not affiliated with IS.
The incident was described byBBC News as the "deadliestIslamist attack inBangladeshi history."[13] The local media referred to it as the7/16 attack.[14]
TheConstitution of Bangladesh declaressecularism as one of the four fundamental principles of the country but also recognises Islam as the state religion. Around 91% of Bangladeshis are Muslims, with the rest being Hindus, Buddhists, Christians and others.[15]
The militant Islamic organisation Jamaat-ul-Mujahideen was founded in 1998 and outlawed in 2005 when it committeda series of bombings, but later took up activities again. Bangladesh government latertried and hangedShaykh Abdur Rahman andSiddiqur Rahman, two leaders of the organisation.[16]
Some attacks came from another Islamic terrorist group outlawed in 2005 namedHarkat-ul-Jihad al-Islami, including the2004 Dhaka grenade attack[17] and2001 Ramna Batamul bombings.[18]Mufti Hannan, the leader of the terrorist group was sentenced to death on 23 December 2008.[17]
Since 2013,Muslim-majority Bangladesh has experienced an increase inIslamist attacks on religious minorities, secularist and atheist writers and bloggers, LGBT rights activists and liberal-minded Muslims.[19][20] Since September 2015, there have been over 30 such attacks, and Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant claimed responsibility for 21 of them.[21]Ansarullah Bangla Team, another terrorist group outlawed on 25 May 2015, also claimed responsibility for some of them.
In November 2015, the IS magazineDabiq published an article calling for the "revival ofjihad inBengal".[22]
Gulshan is a well off, upscale residential neighbourhood of Dhaka and is home to many foreign embassies.[6]
The attack started at about 21:40 local time.[24] Five attackers entered the restaurant armed with bombs, pistols, and assault rifles. One attacker also had a sword. They opened fire indiscriminately and detonated several of the bombs. Several patrons dove under their tables, while panicked staff members ran onto the stairs. An Argentinian-Italian chef named Diego Rossini bolted upstairs, while several restaurant employees followed him. They then jumped onto the rooftops of nearby buildings.[25][26]
Staff on the second floor ran and hid inside a restroom. A total of 8 staff members were hiding inside the restroom. The restroom was warm and cramped, as it was storing yeast and flour. The attackers then went upstairs and walked in front of the door, shouting "Bengali people, come out," "If you're Muslims, come out." Because there was no answer, the gunmen thought that there was no one inside the restroom, and locked the restroom's door. The staff members inside the restroom began to text their relatives, stating that they were inside the restroom and pleaded for help. The attackers then took many hostages, almost all foreigners. Reports indicate that the attackers were "unfailingly polite and solicitous" with the restaurant staff and other Bangladeshis. They took the staff into their confidence, complaining that foreigners, with their skimpy clothes and taste for alcohol, were impeding the spread of Islam. "Their lifestyle is encouraging local people to do the same thing," a militant said.[27][28]
Alerted by the gunfire, police detective Rabiul Karim and officer-in-charge Salauddin Khan started to investigate. Other police officers responded, arriving at the restaurant. The attackers then engaged in a shootout with the police. Police cordoned off the area around the restaurant and planned a rescue raid. The attackers however threw grenades and fired, killing officers Karim and Khan.[25][29]
DMP Commissioner,Asaduzzaman Mia, and several officers struck inside and opened fire on the terrorists in an attempt to rescue civilians from the site. 9 people were brought back from the site in the attempt. Prime MinisterSheikh Hasina was briefed by the Commissioner and she instructed him to move away with his men and informed him theArmy ChiefBelal Shafiul Huq was on his way from Sylhet.[30]
The attackers then spotted one member of staff, named Miraj, who hid in the corner. One of the gunman told Miraj: "Everyone else ran away but you couldn't make it, that means God wants you to die." The gunman then strapped him to a chair with explosives, creating their human shield. The gunmen then separated the Muslims from the non-Muslims. The Muslims were given food and water, while the non-Muslims, were not. On the early morning of 2 July, the attackers began releasing hostages. A group of women wearinghijabs were released by the attackers; they offered a young Bangladeshi man,Faraaz Hossain, the opportunity to leave as well. However, Hossain refused their offer and refused to leave his friends, who were prohibited from leaving by the gunmen.[25][31][32]
Pictures allegedly taken from inside the restaurant were circulated onTwitter by pro-IS accounts and show several bodies and pools of blood on the floor.[citation needed] The dailyKaler Kantho reported that the militant groupAnsar al-Islam announced the upcoming attack via a tweet almost 10 hours before the actual attack took place.[33]
The rescue operation was ordered by the Bangladeshi Prime MinisterSheikh Hasina and was namedOperation Thunderbolt. The planning of the Operation was finalized at a meeting between the Bangladeshi Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina and Armed forces chiefs and top officials of different law enforcement agencies. The operation was led by 1st Para-Commando Battalion under the leadership of Operational Commander Brigadier GeneralMujibur Rahman of the Bangladesh Army's 46 Independent Infantry Brigade .[34][35] Members of the Bangladesh Army,Navy,Air Force,Border Guard Bangladesh,Police,Rapid Action Battalion, andSWAT started the rescue operation at 07:40 local time.[36] Commandos stormed into the bakery with nineAPCs acting in support, smashing through the wall.[37] A man, living next to the restaurant, took a video of the operation and tweeted it on internet. Within 12 to 13 minutes, they took control over the area.[37] The rescue operation lasted around 50 minutes.Bangladesh Army chief GeneralAbu Belal Muhammad Shafiul Huq andBangladesh Navy chief AdmiralMohammad Nizamuddin Ahmed were present in the area during the raid.[38]
Thirteen hostages were rescued. Five of the attackers were killed exchanging fire with the commandos, while the sixth was captured alive.[5][39] During the operation one of the bakery's chefs was mistakenly identified as an attacker by the commandos and shot dead.[5][40]
Two of the hostages, Tahmid Hasib Khan and Hasnat Karim, were taken by police for questioning, and subsequently vanished amidst confusion about whether they had been released or not.[41][42]
Twenty-two civilians, five terrorists, and two police officers were confirmed killed, while 50 others, mostly police personnel, were injured.[5][1][43][44][45] The two dead police officers included Rabiul Islam,Assistant Commissioner of Detective Branch of the Dhaka Metropolitan Police, and Salahuddin Ahmed, officer-in-charge of the nearby Banani police station.[46][47][48] Nine Italian citizens were among the victims.[49] The Bangladesh Army initially announced that all 20 hostages killed in the attack were foreigners, and that they were "killed brutally with sharp weapons" by the perpetrators.[45] Those who could recite a verse from theQuran from memory were spared in an effort to only killnon-Muslims.[50][51][52] Later a chef of the bakery was identified among the dead bodies.[5][1] An injured staff of the bakery died atDhaka Medical College Hospital on 8 July 2016.[43]
Among the dead were seven Japanese citizens – five men and two women – who were associated with theJapan International Cooperation Agency (JICA). One of the women was pregnant at the time.[53] Tarishi Jain, a 19-year-old female student of theUniversity of California, Berkeley, of Indian nationality, was also killed. She was the onlyIndian killed in the attack.[54]
| Country | Number |
|---|---|
| Bangladesh | 7 |
 India | 1 |
 Italy | 9 |
 Japan | 7 |
| Total | 24[5][43] |
The dead included:[5][1][43][55][56]
The five terrorists who died during rescue operation by military and joint forces are:[1]
Among the injured were 25 police personnel[58] there were severalhigher-ranking officers of the Dhaka Metropolitan Police including an Additional Commissioner, two Additional Deputy Commissioners, the Officer-in-charge of the Gulshan police station and an Inspector.[59]
The Italian Deputy Foreign MinisterMario Giro had attended a meeting in Bangladesh and visited the attack site. He then took the bodies of 9 Italian victims and carried them to their homeland in Italy. The plane carrying the bodies landed on 5 July atCiampino Military Airbase south of Rome, Italy. Autopsy shows that all nine Italians were tortured in the attack. Several of them were slashed with knives and several of them were mutilated. Authorities confirmed that the nine Italian victims suffered "slow and agonizing death".[49][60][61]
Relatives of the seven Japanese victims in the attack were flown to Bangladesh to view and identify the bodies, accompanied by Senior Vice Foreign Minister Seiji Kihara,Foreign Ministry and the Japan International Cooperation Agency. A ceremony for the repatriation of the bodies were held at a stadium in Dhaka, which was attended by the Japan's Ambassador to Bangladesh, Masato Watanabe. The bodies of the seven Japanese victims were flown to Tokyo on 5 July. The plane took off fromShahjalal International Airport at 8:40 pm local Bangladesh time.[62]
Survivors recalled that the attackers had no mercy to the foreigners. One of the survivors stated that an Indian woman, identified as Tarishi Jain, who had been badly injured was moaning in agony but a perpetrator took a sword to her and killed her without mercy.[63]
An initial report fromAmaq News Agency, which is affiliated with the Islamic State, said the group claimed it had killed 24 people and wounded 40 others.[64] A second report, issued directly by ISIL a few hours later, said the group had killed "22 crusaders" and was accompanied by photos of the attackers, standing in front of IS banners.[65]
According toThe New York Times, citing Bangladesh police, the attackers were named Akash, Badhon, Bikash, Don, and Ripon. IS referred to the five men by theirkunya which were Abu Omar al-Bengali, Abu Salmah al-Bengali, Abu Rahim al-Bengali, Abu Muslim al-Bengali and Abu Muharib al-Bengali. According toThe New York Times, pictures of the bodies of the five men, released by Bangladeshi police, matched five photographs of the men released by ISIL.[66]
Nevertheless, thehome minister of Bangladesh, Asaduzzaman Khan, stated that the perpetrators belonged to Jamaat-ul-Mujahideen and were not affiliated with IS. They were well-educated and mostly from rich families.[67][68] Bangladeshi politicians also blamed opposition groups, like those within theBangladesh Nationalist Party, of plotting to destabilize the country by supporting Islamic extremists like the Jamaat-ul-Mujahideen. The opposition denied such claims.[69][70] Bangladeshi Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina's political adviser Hossain Toufique Imam claimed that Bangladesh authorities who monitored social media saw several messages on Twitter on Friday (1 July 2016) saying there would be an attack; however, police believed that the attack would target embassies or major hotels and restaurants instead.[1]
The attackers, all in their late teens or early 20s, were identified as wealthy men from Bangladesh's elite, having attended top private schools and universities in Bangladesh and abroad.[71][72] It was revealed that three of the attackers came from a privileged background, educated with western curricula. Police named the five gunmen who attacked the restaurant as Nibras Islam, Rohan Imtiaz, Meer Saameh Mubasheer, Khairul Islam and Shafiqul Islam.[1] One of them Nibras Islam was known as a "fun-loving, in and out of love, and keen on sport". He attendedMonash University in Malaysia and returned because "he didn't like it in Monash". Nibras' father was a businessman with two houses in Dhaka, and one of his uncles was a Deputy Secretary to the Bangladesh Government. It was revealed that Nibras was following a Twitter account belonged to an Islamic State propagandist named Mehdi Masroor Biswas, who was arrested inBangalore in 2015.[73]
Two gunmen were identified as Meer Sameh Mubashir and Rohan Imtiaz. Both went toScholastica School which followsCambridge International Examinations curriculum. Local newspapers reported that both of them had gone missing long before the attack.[72] Rohan Imtiaz has been identified as the son of a politician in Bangladesh's ruling partyAwami League.[74] Police then identified another gunman, named as Shafiqul Islam Ujjal from Koiyagarhi village,Bogra District. He enrolled atGovernment Azizul Haque College inBogura for graduation after passing higher secondary examinations. He had left the college later and took up a teaching job at a kindergarten school in Shajahan Market area in Dhaka.[75]
On 6 July 2016, a video was released by IS fromSyria throughSITE intelligence website, where three Bengali speakers warned the Bangladeshi Government saying "What you witnessed in Bangladesh...was a glimpse. This will repeat, repeat and repeat until you lose and we win and the sharia is established throughout the world. The jihad that is waged today is a jihad under the shade of the Caliphate."[76][77]
On 16 July 2016, Police arrested three people for renting out a flat to the attackers inBashundhara Residential Area. One of them was Gias Uddin Ahsan, a professor ofNorth South University. The other two were his nephew Alam Chowdhury and the manager of the building Mahbubur Rahman Tuhin. Police found sand-filled cartons, which police suspect to be used to carry grenades thrown during the attack and used clothes in the flat. Police also suspect that the attackers and their associates stayed in the flat duringRamadan, and the attack plan was drafted there.[78][79]
On 26 July 2016, police raided an apartment inKallyanpur chasing 10 suspects, all of whom are believed to be part of the same group that carried out the Holey Artisan Bakery attack, and who were planning another large-scale attack; they killed nine and arrested one.[80] It is reported that the police were directing vigilantes organised as a "citizen's committee" by the local MP for Dhaka-14,Aslamul Haque. Participants included members of theAwami League,Jubo League, andChhatra League.[81]
On 27 August 2016,Tamim Chowdhury, the supposed mastermind of the attack, was killed in a raid on an IS safehouse in Dhaka by Bangladeshi forces.[82] On 2 September his deputy Murad was killed in another raid in Dhaka's Rupnagar area.[83]
On 6 January 2017, Bangladeshi police shot dead two Islamist terrorists including Nurul Islam Marjan, a commander of a splinter group of theJamaat-ul-Mujahideen Bangladesh (JMB) which is the prime suspect and was on a police wanted list for his role in the attack since July 2016.[84]
On the night of 13 January 2017, Bangladeshi counterterrorism forces arrested Jahangir Alam, man suspected of being a key planner of the attack inTangail District.[85]
In December 2018, the trial of eight people accused of beingJamaat-ul-Mujahideen Bangladesh who were suspected of helping plan and supply weapons for the attack opened before a special tribunal in Dhaka. In November 2019 seven were convicted and sentenced to death while one was acquitted.[86][87] After a 4 year period their death sentences were commuted down to life sentences until natural death, "Considering the brutality of the murder, the overall cruel behavior of the terrorists on the spot at the time of the incident and the tarnishing of the image of Bangladesh in the outside world, we think that justice will be ensured if each of them (seven convicts) is sentenced to life imprisonment (till natural death) in the case," the bench said in the full text of the verdict uploaded on the SC website on June 17 of 2025.[88] On the 2nd of July 2025, DMP commissionerSheikh Md. Sajjad Ali said "Mentionable, Holy Artisan incident was a terrorist attack and after appropriate investigations the people involved were by now exposed to justice.” He also highlighted police’s challenges in the country’s current situation and some irregularities during the subsequent governments.[89]
After revealing the investigations of the attack in July 2016 published byThe Daily Star that a terrorist involved in the brutal killings followedZakir Naik's page on Facebook and was influenced[90] by Naik's speeches.[91] The terrorist had posted sermons of Zakir Naik on social media where Naik urged "all Muslims to be terrorists"[92][93] IndianUnion Minister of State for Home AffairsKiren Rijiju said, "Zakir Naik's speech is a matter of concern for us. Our agencies are working on this."[94] He was then termed a controversial as well as a popular figure by the media.[92][95] After 2 days in investigation, theMaharashtraState Intelligence Department (SID) gave a clean chit to Zakir Naik and said that Naik would not and cannot be arrested on his return toIndia as the probe ordered by the Maharashtra government did not find any other strong evidence to link Naik to terror-related activities.[96]The Daily Star apologized to Naik over theDhaka Terror Attack controversy and stated that they never blamed him for the attack.[97] The newspaper quoted that it only reported how youth were misinterpreting his speeches.[97][98][99] However, soon thereafter theBangladesh Government banned the broadcast of Naik'sPeace TV channel.[100]Hasanul Haq Inu, the Information Minister, reasoned that "Peace TV is not consistent with Bangladeshi society, Bangladesh's constitution, our culture, customs and rituals".[4]
Bangladeshi Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina condemned the killings and hostage crisis and stated that Islamic terrorists were maligning the name of Islam[101][102][103] and assured that the government will do everything to restrain militancy and extremism in the country.[104] PresidentMohammad Abdul Hamid also condemned the terrorist attack and expressed deep shock at the death of the hostages and police officials.[105] Two days of national mourning was observed in the memory of the deceased victims.[106] Indian Prime MinisterNarendra Modi condemned the attack and said, "the attack in Dhaka has pained us beyond words."[107] He also telephoned his Bangladeshi counterpart.[108] PresidentPranab Mukherjee wrote onTwitter that he was "deeply saddened at the loss of life and injuries caused to innocent civilians."[109] Italian Prime Minister Matteo Renzi offered condolences to the families of the victims, saying, "our values are stronger than hatred and terror."[110] He also said that the nation had suffered "a painful loss."[111] TheItaly national football team wore black armbands during theirEuro quarter finalmatch againstGermany. Both teams held amoment of silence in memory of the victims before the game.[112] Japanese Prime MinisterShinzo Abe telephoned his Bangladeshi counterpart and commanded the Embassy of Japan in Bangladesh to rescue the Japanese alive from the crisis, labeling the incident as "unfortunate".[108][113] Some other Japanese government officials and agencies including Foreign MinisterFumio Kishida, Deputy Chief Cabinet SecretaryKoichi Hagiuda, Chief Cabinet SecretaryYoshihide Suga,Japan International Cooperation Agency expressed their concern over the incident and condemned the killings.[114]
EU Chief of Foreign PolicyFederica Mogherini issued a statement expressing 'solidarity' with Bangladesh. The statement said that the EU stands with the people of Bangladesh and offered their deepest condolences to the dead and to the wounded.[115]
TheOrganisation of Islamic Cooperation, as shocked to hear the attack and condemned the attack in its strongest terms, and offered their condolences to the victims of the attack.[116]
TheUnited Nations Security Council strongly condemned the terrorist attack and said, "the members of the Security Council reaffirmed that terrorism in all its forms and manifestations constitutes one of the most serious threats to international peace and security".[117][118]
Two years after the attack, a memorial sculpture named "Dipto Shopoth" byMrinal Haque was inaugurated in Gulshan in memory of the two policemen AC Rabiul and OC Salahuddin who were killed in the incident.[119]
.jpg)
After the resignation of Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, the sculpture was demolished on 29 August and replaced with posters of the banned Islamist organizationHizb ut-Tahrir Bangladesh.[120]
2019 Bangladeshi-German-Russian co-production filmShonibar Bikel and 2022 Indian filmFaraaz are based on the event. The latter is an adaptation of Nuruzzaman Labu's 2017 non-fiction bookHoley Artisan: A Journalistic Investigation.[121]
The 12-hour siege was Bangladesh's deadliest Islamist attack. Most of the victims were Italian or Japanese.
[T]he militants, who Hasnat Karim said seemed to be in their early 20s, were hunting for foreigners and non-Muslims. 'They asked the hostages to recite verses from the Quran', he said. 'Those who could [recite], were treated well, but those who couldn't were separated...'
.jpg)