July 2016 Dhaka attack

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 Minister Asaduzzaman 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.