Dhaka Attack Decoded: Terrorism Expert Lays It Out in 23 Tweets

Rukmini Callimachi, a correspondent for The New York Times, claims that the attack has a pattern and message to it.

ISIS has claimed responsibility for the hostage attack on the Holey Artisan Bakery on Friday night, in which 22 people were killed – including 20 hostages, and 2 police personnel – along with six gunmen, while 13 hostages were rescued. One of the nine gunmen was captured alive, two others escaped the area during the operation.

Rukmini Callimachi, a correspondent for The New York Times who focuses on al-Qaeda and ISIS activities, decoded the attack in 23 tweets. The Romanian-American journalist and poet has in the past decoded similar terror attacks.

Callimachi claims that the attack, the 19th one since September 2015, has a certain pattern and message to it. Read below to find out:

1. ISIS' Amaq News Agency has claimed credit for the hostage standoff in a cafe in Bangladesh: pic.twitter.com/ymLgBKmkYh

— Rukmini Callimachi (@rcallimachi) July 1, 2016

2. This is at least the 19th attack claimed by ISIS in Bangladesh since Sept 2015.

— Rukmini Callimachi (@rcallimachi) July 1, 2016

3. ISIS' Amaq agency claims they have killed 20 people at the cafe in #Dhaka, and that hostage standoff continues pic.twitter.com/X25WknsAYA

— Rukmini Callimachi (@rcallimachi) July 1, 2016

4. As @Rita_Katz noted in a recent analysis, Bangladesh is an interesting case study in ISIS' paradigm of violence, with parallels to Turkey

— Rukmini Callimachi (@rcallimachi) July 1, 2016

5. Bangladesh like Turkey is a Muslim nation, with large Sunni population. This is ISIS' core audience. They can't do random violence here

— Rukmini Callimachi (@rcallimachi) July 1, 2016

Also Read: Dhaka Terror Attack: Rescue Ops End; 13 Rescued, 6 Gunmen Killed

6. So in Bangladesh like in Turkey, the group until today only took credit for targeted assassinations of non-Sunni Muslims.

— Rukmini Callimachi (@rcallimachi) July 1, 2016

7. First attack claimed by ISIS was in Sept 2015 & was assassination of Italian national. Next was a Japanese national on Oct 3, 2015

— Rukmini Callimachi (@rcallimachi) July 1, 2016

8. Third attack claimed by them was Oct 28, 2015 and involved bombing a Shia temple. They went on to kill Hindus, Buddhists, Christians

— Rukmini Callimachi (@rcallimachi) July 1, 2016

9. See the pattern? It's carefully selected targets, not mass shootings , presumably bc mass shooting in Bangladesh would kill Sunni Muslims

— Rukmini Callimachi (@rcallimachi) July 1, 2016

10. Today is a continuation of that with an attack on a diplomatic enclave frequented by foreigners. Message: "We're killing the infidel"

— Rukmini Callimachi (@rcallimachi) July 1, 2016

Also Read: 360-Degree View of Holey Artisan Bakery Before Dhaka Terror Attack

11. NYT's latest on the unfolding standoff in Bangladesh quotes restaurant workers who say 8-10 gunmen attacked: https://t.co/FSAm7BfLDF

— Rukmini Callimachi (@rcallimachi) July 1, 2016

12. To be sure, ISIS has killed Sunni Muslims in the past. But when they do, they need to be careful about it, since it's their base.

— Rukmini Callimachi (@rcallimachi) July 1, 2016

13. Just yesterday, an al-Qaeda Shariah official issued a rebuke of the Istanbul bombing, specifically bc many casualties = Sunni Muslim

— Rukmini Callimachi (@rcallimachi) July 1, 2016

14. Unusual sequence: Usually Amaq is followed by ISIS release on Nashir (Ar/Eng). Today I see it on Nashir German pic.twitter.com/FfVPNRaabI

— Rukmini Callimachi (@rcallimachi) July 1, 2016

15. ISIS' German-language "Nashir" channel is now publishing images of what it purports are the dead inside the cafe. Too graphic to share.

— Rukmini Callimachi (@rcallimachi) July 2, 2016

Also Read: As Dhaka Attack Unfolds, India Pushes for Global Anti-Terror Pact

16. Images show three men, face down, in pools of blood. You can see white cafe chairs and cafe table to the side. Timestamp is 836 pm EST

— Rukmini Callimachi (@rcallimachi) July 2, 2016

17. ISIS' Amaq channel is stating they still hold hostages inside the cafe, as Reuters reports police plan to storm: pic.twitter.com/7k487AVHM2

— Rukmini Callimachi (@rcallimachi) July 2, 2016

18. Not going to post because pics are too awful, but men lying dead in pools of blood look Bangladeshi to me. Not foreign as ISIS claims

— Rukmini Callimachi (@rcallimachi) July 2, 2016

19. Fyi, pics from inside cafe could well have been lifted by Amaq from local news reports. Some images are blurred out (not ISIS' style)

— Rukmini Callimachi (@rcallimachi) July 2, 2016

20. & despite claims of holding hostages, they haven't posted pics of anyone alive inside cafe (cd b misinformation as police preps 2storm)

— Rukmini Callimachi (@rcallimachi) July 2, 2016

21. This will be my last tweets of the night folks as it's late here in Paris. 1 last thought, given that some ppl are suggesting this is AQ

— Rukmini Callimachi (@rcallimachi) July 2, 2016

22. Yes, the modus operandi (attacking a Western-operated cafe) looks like AQIM, & looks like Shabaab. But al-Qaeda has *not* claimed this

— Rukmini Callimachi (@rcallimachi) July 2, 2016

23. Whereas ISIS has very quickly & very loudly claimed this attack in a multitude of channels, starting with the well established Amaq News

— Rukmini Callimachi (@rcallimachi) July 2, 2016