Around 8:45am, several unidentified armed assailants stormed Holey Artisan Bakery, a restaurant in Gulshan 2 area of Dhaka, filled with and popular among Bangladeshis and foreigners. No group or individual officially claimed responsibility for last night's attack as of 2am. In the attacks, the main suspects were the Islamic State and al-Qaeda in the Indian Subcontinent (AQIS). On different occasions, both groups have claimed to have carried out attacks on Bangladeshi soil. But the Bangladesh government has denied the groups' presence in the country, blaming most of the attacks on Jamaat-inspired extremists instead. Although RAB chief Benazir Ahmed briefed media soon after the incident, he did not comment on the identities of the attackers. Sumon Reza, a supervisor at the bakery who escaped the attack, told reporters that the attackers were shouting “Allahu Akbar” while entering the shop. He saw two attackers and both of them appeared to be under 30. They had small firearms and at least one attacker was carrying a sharp weapon. Commenting on the latest attack, Rita Katz, co-founder of the SITE Intelligence Group that regularly reports on militant activities in Bangladesh, tweeted: “Clash in #Bangladesh different than all past #ISIS & #AQIS attacks there so far. A dangerous precedent in the country.” John Kirby, US state department spokesman, also weighed in on the hostage situation. “The situation’s ongoing, obviously – too early for us to say who’s involved, motivation, any of that stuff,” he said. Soon after the attack, an unofficial twitter account claiming to belong to @Ansar_Islam_BD tweeted: “Operation has started in #Gulshan, #Bangladesh. Few foreign diplomatics (crusader) have been taking [sic] hostage in a hotel.” The account later twitted: “It will be first in #Bangladesh to attack in diplomatic zone, taking hostage and largest operation against the crusaders and its allies.” The authenticity of the account could not be verified. Meanwhile, just hours before the attack in Gulshan, IS yesterday claimed responsibilities for the murder of two people – one in Jhenaidah and another in Bandarban. Since September last year, the group has claimed 24 attacks killing 20 people, mostly non-Muslim and non-Sunni preachers and foreigners. On the other hand, AQIS claimed 13 attacks since 2013 killing 11 people, most of whom are secular bloggers and LGBT activists. The United States yesterday designated AQIS as a terrorist organisation and its leader Asim Umar as a global terrorist for their activities in South Asia.