DHAKA: Bangladesh´s Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina pleaded with extremists to stop killing in the name of religion Saturday after 20 hostages were killed in a siege at a Dhaka restaurant.
"Islam is a religion of peace. Stop killing in the name of the religion," Hasina said in a televised address to the nation in which she declared two days of mourning.
"Please stop tarnishing our noble religion... I implore you to come back to the rightful path and uphold the pride of Islam."
The prime minister, whose government has been unable to stop a growing wave of attacks on foreigners and religious minorities, urged a nationwide effort to combat extremism.
She asked people to set up "anti-terrorism committees" in districts and sub-districts across the mainly Muslim but officially secular country.
The 68-year-old premier said the people behind the attacks were trying to ruin Bangladesh.
"By holding innocent civilians hostage at gunpoint, they want to turn our nation into a failed state," she said.
Seven Japanese involved in the attack confirmed dead
On the other hand, Japan´s government said that seven Japanese nationals involved in a hostage attack in Bangladesh have been confirmed dead,
"Embassy officials confirmed that seven Japanese were included in the bodies sent to hospital by the Bangladesh government," Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga said at a news conference in Tokyo.
The seven victims included five men and two women, Suga said, adding that it was "extremely regrettable" that the terror attack resulted in the fatalities.
The Bangladesh military said most of the fatalities were either Italian or Japanese. Thirteen hostages were rescued.
Nine Italians killed, one missing
Moreover, Nine Italians were killed and a 10th was listed as missing after militants attacked a restaurant in the Bangladesh capital of Dhaka and took hostages, Italian Foreign Minister Paolo Gentiloni said.
The nine fatalities comprised four men and five women, Gentiloni told the press, adding that relatives had been notified.
A tenth Italian was in the restaurant when the attack unfolded but was not among the 20 listed as dead, he said.
Local media said the Italian dead included a 33-year-woman who had been in Bangladesh for 18 months for work, a 52-year-old woman textile executive and a 47-year-old entrepreneur who was the father of three-year-old twins.
Prime Minister Matteo Renzi had earlier prepared the nation for bad news, saying the country was "like a family which has suffered a painful loss."
The attackers who believed they were "destroying our values" would not get a drop of encouragement from Italy, he said.
"We are stronger," Renzi said.
"The terrorists want to rip away the daily fabric of our lives. Our duty is to reply with even greater force, by affirming our values, the values of freedom of which we are proud, and which are stronger than hatred or terror."
The attackers, moving at the start of the Eid holiday, took foreigners hostage at a restaurant, killing 20 before troops moved in Saturday. Many of the victims were hacked to death.
Pope Francis sent a message of condolence to Bangladesh, condemning "barbarous acts" that were "offences against God and humanity," the Vatican said.
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