Topic summary
July 2016 Dhaka attack
Bangladesh
Islamic State
Mohammad Saifullah Ozaki- Tamim ChowdhuryX
- Nurul Islam Marzan X
- Rohan Imtiaz †
- Parties and Alliances
- Ministries
- Torture and Custodial Death (Prevention) Act, 2013
- Anti-Terrorism Act, 2009
- Cyber Security Act, 2023
- Fifteenth constitutional amendment
- International Crimes Tribunal
- 2013 Shahbag protests
- Enforced disappearances (Aynaghar)
- Bangladesh Rifles revolt
- Abolition of Caretaker Government
- 2015 Rohingya crisis
- 2013 Bangladesh violence
- Padma Bridge graft scandal
- Young Bangla
- Attacks by Islamic extremists
- July 2016 Dhaka attack
- Bangladesh Bank robbery
- 2021 anti-Hindu violence
- Persecution of journalists
- 2015 political crisis
- Suppressed freedom of expression
- Indo-Bangla land boundary agreement, 2015
- COVID-19 pandemic
- 2024 State visit to China
- Vision 2021
- Delta Plan
- Jamuna Bridge
- Forces Goal 2030
- Digital Bangladesh
- Padma Bridge
- Dhaka–Jessore line
- Karnaphuli Tunnel
- Rampal Power Station
- Ganges Barrage Project
- Port of Payra
- Rooppur Nuclear Power Plant
- Purbachal New Town
- Ashrayan-2
- Bangladesh Satellite-1
- Metro Rail
- Matarbari Port
- Dhaka Elevated Expressway
- Chittagong Elevated Expressway
The July 2016 Dhaka attack or Holey Artisan terrorist attack took place on the night of 1 July 2016, at 21:20 Bangladesh Standard Time (UTC+06:00), five Islamic State (IS) terrorists took hostages and opened fire on the Holey Artisan Bakery in Gulshan Thana jurisdiction in Dhaka, Bangladesh. The terrorists entered the bakery with crude bombs, machetes, pistols, and took several dozen hostages, including foreign nationals as well. In the immediate response, while Dhaka Metropolitan Police tried to regain control of the bakery, two police officers were shot dead by the assailants.
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. After the police failed to breach the bakery and secure the hostages, they set up a perimeter along with the Rapid Action Battalion and Border Guard Bangladesh. Very early on 2 July (around 03:00), it was decided that the Bangladesh Armed Forces would launch a counter-assault named Operation Thunderbolt. The assault was led by the 1st Para-commando Battalion, an elite force in the Bangladesh Army under the leadership of operational commander Brigadier General Mujibur Rahman, and began at 07:40. According to Bangladesh's Inspector General of Police, all of the attackers were Bangladeshi citizens. IS claimed responsibility for the incident and released photographs of the gunmen, but then- Home MinisterAsaduzzaman Khan stated that the perpetrators belonged to Jamaat-ul-Mujahideen and were not affiliated with IS.
The incident was described by BBC News as the "deadliest Islamist attack in Bangladeshi history." The local media referred to it as the 7/16 attack.