Emory plans vigil for students killed in Bangladesh

Monash said it was aware of reports that some of the killers had studied in Malaysia but added in a statement that it “has not received, nor seen, any official confirmation” of the identities.

The government obviously isn’t almost as clear on events as they’d presented, either, with reports that some of the rescued hostages are now being held by the government for questioning as they try to make sense of a stunning attack. The five others include two police officers.

Meantime, Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina paid her respects Monday at a ceremony honoring those killed during the siege. The message containing threats has gone viral on social media among Bangladeshis still recovering from the shock from the slaughter of 20 hostages and two police officers in Dhaka.

It was one of the deadliest attacks in Bangladesh, where Islamic State and al Qaeda have claimed a series of killings of liberals and members of religious minorities in the past year.

But Bangladesh police have maintained that the militants were members of the banned Jama’atul Mujahideen Bangladesh (JMB).

Bangladeshi police were today investigating an apparent jihadist video threatening more attacks in this South Asian nation.

“Pakistan stands in solidarity with the brotherly people of Bangladesh and is confident that the Government of Bangladesh will effectively counter this cowardly attack”.

He also offered assistance from US law enforcement, including the Federal Bureau of Investigation.

The five named in the case filing were Nibras Islam, Rohan Imtiaz, Meer Saameh Mubasheer, Khairul Islam and Shafiqul Islam.

The NY Daily News reports the gunmen focused on non-Muslim foreigners, and “spared those who could recite passages from the Koran”, even providing them with meals. Bangladesh has so far rejected the claims made by ISIS about its presence in the country and its capability to carry out terror attacks.

The attack killed nine Italians, seven Japanese, one Indian, three Bangladeshis and one Bangladeshi-born American citizen. The militants had penetrated the base after detonating two auto bombs that killed at least 10 soldiers. In a 50-minutes-long operation, the army rescued 13 hostages.

“He (Foreign Minister Abul Hassan Mahmud Ali) expressed hope that the worldwide community would support Bangladesh in fighting common challenges of terrorism and violent extremism”, a Foreign Office statement said after some 50 foreign diplomats were briefed about the incident.

Most recent Islamist attacks in Bangladesh have involved brief machete attacks by gangs of young men, who flee immediately, rather than post photos online and wait for the inevitable commando raid. IS terrorists and al-Qaida in the Indian subcontinent (AQIS) have claimed responsibility for numerous attacks.

The United States declared AQIS a “foreign terrorist organization” Thursday and called its leader, Asim Umar, a “specially designated global terrorist”.