Dhaka Victims Shot, Then Mutilated With Machetes, Says Officer: 10 Facts

Benazir Ahmed, the Director General of Rapid Action Battalion, confirmed that among the terrorists were young men who went to elite schools and were also frequent visitors to the cafe they attacked.

"The terrorists were from well to-do families and were flamboyant young men; it is difficult to imagine how they were radicalized. At least four come from very wealthy backgrounds," Mr Ahmed said. Only one of the terrorists had attended a madrasa.

The son of a senior leader of Bangladesh's ruling Awami League is also among them, a media report said. Rohan Ibne Imtiaz, the son of SM Imtiaz Khan Babul, a leader of the party's Dhaka City chapter, has been identified as one of the attackers by another Awami League leader, BD News reported.

Seven terrorists attacked the cafe, which was popular with foreigners, and killed 22 people. As more than 100 commandos stormed the restaurant, six of the attackers were shot dead and one was captured alive.

The terrorists separated the foreigners from the locals before killing them one by one. They first shot the hostages and then mutilated them with machetes, Mr Ahmed said.

"The terrorists were in a make-believe world, so much hatred... they had minimum humanity. They treated hostages like cockroaches," Mr Ahmed said.

The Bangladeshi officer said the terrorist who was caught alive had come from Canada just a day before the attack.

Among the victims was 19-year-old Tarishi Jain, an Indian student from UC Berkeley. Her funeral was held in this afternoon in Gurgaon near Delhi.

According to the officer, the terrorists were well-trained and knew how to operate different kinds of weapons in defence and attack.

"The terrorists wanted to draw the attention of the global audience and at the same time tell people of Bangladesh that they weren't under threat... which is why those from Bangladesh weren't killed," Mr Ahmed said.