Ten years on, Holy Artisan attack still haunts nation

Today marks the 10th anniversary of the Holy Artisan Bakery terrorist attack, one of the deadliest militant assaults in the country's history that left 20 hostages and two police officers dead and sent shockwaves across the world.

On the night of July 1, 2016, five armed militants stormed the café in Dhaka's Gulshan diplomatic zone shortly after iftar, taking dozens of people hostage. The siege ended the following morning when commandos from the Bangladesh Army's 1st Para-Commando Battalion launched Operation Thunderbolt, killing all five attackers and rescuing survivors.

Authorities later identified the attackers as members of the Neo-Jama'atul Mujahideen Bangladesh (Neo-JMB).

Among the 20 victims were nine Italians, seven Japanese nationals, one Indian citizen, two Bangladeshis and one Bangladeshi-American. Two police officers were also killed while responding to the attack before the military operation began.

The memorial sculpture "Dipto Shopoth", erected outside Gulshan Police Station in honour of the fallen officers, was demolished during the 2024 political unrest and has yet to be rebuilt.

Unlike previous years, no tribute is scheduled at the attack site. Instead, foreign missions have jointly organised a commemorative event at the Italian Embassy.

Confirming the arrangement, Dhaka Metropolitan Police (DMP) Gulshan Division Deputy Commissioner M Tanvir Ahmed said diplomatic missions would observe the anniversary collectively at the embassy, while no separate programme had been planned at the former café premises.

He also said there would be no separate ceremony for the two slain police officers, noting that the police usually honour fallen members through a centralised commemorative programme.

The attack triggered one of Bangladesh's largest counterterrorism investigations. Following years of investigation and trial, a special anti-terrorism tribunal sentenced seven men to death in November 2019. In October 2023, the High Court commuted the death sentences to life imprisonment.

The convicts are Jahangir Hossain alias Rajib Gandhi, Aslam Hossain alias Rash, Hadisur Rahman, Rakibul Hasan Regan, Abdus Sabur Khan, Shariful Islam alias Khaled, and Mamunur Rashid Ripon. Law enforcement agencies have said most of the principal planners behind the attack were killed in subsequent security operations.

A decade later, the Holy Artisan attack remains a defining moment in Bangladesh's fight against violent extremism and a solemn reminder of the human cost of terrorism.