Sydney: Heavily armed Australian police stormed a Sydney cafe early on Tuesday morning and freed terrified hostages held there at gunpoint, in a dramatic end to a 16-hour siege in which two captives and the attacker were killed. Two Indians were among the hostages rescued by the police.
A police source named hostage taker as Man Haron Monis, an Iranian refugee and self-styled sheikh known for sending hate mail to the families of Australian troops killed in Afghanistan. He was charged last year with being an accessory to the murder of his ex-wife but had been free on bail.
During the siege, several videos were posted on social media apparently showing hostages inside the Lindt cafe in Sydney's central business district making demands on behalf of Monis. The gunman, whom hostages referred to as "brother", demanded to talk to Prime Minister Tony Abbott, the delivery of an Islamic State flag, and that media broadcast that Australia was under attack by Islamic State.
Abbott said the gunman was well known to authorities and had a history of extremism and mental instability. Police are investigating whether the two hostages were killed by the gunman or died in the crossfire, said Andrew Scipione, police commissioner for the state of New South Wales.
With Australia on edge after the siege, police said the Department of Foreign Affairs building in the capital, Canberra, had been evacuated after a suspicious package was found in the canteen.
Few other details were available, and there was no immediate indication of any possible link with events in Sydney. At least six people believed to have been held captive in the Sydney cafe managed to flee after gunshots were heard coming from inside.
Police then moved in, with heavy gunfire and blasts from stun grenades echoing from the building.
"They made the call because they believed at that time if they didn't enter there would have been many more lives lost," Scipione said.
Cafe manager, lawyer killed
Police said a 50-year-old man, believed to be the attacker, was killed. Television pictures showed he appeared to have been armed with a shotgun. A man aged 34 and a 38-year-old woman were also killed, police said. The man was the cafe manager, and the woman was a mother and lawyer, Sydney media reported.
At least four were wounded, including a policeman hit in the face with shotgun pellets. Among the wounded was a 75-year-old woman who was shot in the shoulder, police said. Two other pregnant women who were among the hostages were taken to hospital for assessment. All were in stable condition.
Medics tried to resuscitate at least one person after the raid, a witness said. Bomb squad members moved in to search for explosives, but none were found. So far 17 hostages have been accounted for, including at least five who were released or escaped on Monday.
No links to terror groups
Monis was found guilty in 2012 of sending threatening letters to the families of eight Australian soldiers killed in Afghanistan as a protest against Australia's involvement there. He was also facing more than 40 sexual assault charges. "He had a long history of violent crime, infatuation with extremism and mental instability," Abbott told reporters in Canberra. The prime minister did not identify the gunman.
New South Wales Premier Mike Baird declined to comment when asked by a journalist whether it was appropriate for Monis to be free on bail.
A US security official said the US government was being advised by Australia that there was no sign at this stage that the gunman was connected to known terrorist organisations.
