LIVE STREAM: Hostages Being Held By “Islamists” in Sydney Cafe

Photo credit: Channel 7 / Twitter

Between 13 – 50 hostages are being held by armed men in a siege in a cafe in Sydney, Australia.

ABC News Live Stream:

From The Telegraph UK:

Twenty hostages have been taken by gunmen – apparently Islamic extremists – at a popular café in Martin Place, the heart of Sydney.

The siege began at the Lindt chocolate shop café at about 9.45am, local time, and has brought the city to a standstill.

Horrifying images have emerged showing hostages holding up a black flag with Arabic writing against the café window which looks out across the busy pedestrian mall in the centre of Sydney’s central business district.

Heavily armed police have surrounded the cafe. So far, it is believed that there is only one gunman, but reports are conflicting and details still are unclear.

Unfortunately, that isn’t the only incident going on in the area.

From BBC News:

Police have also said that they are dealing with an “incident” at the Sydney Opera House which has been evacuated.

Local media are reporting that a suspicious package was found there on Monday, though it was unclear whether it was connected to the Martin Place incident.

…

Australia has been facing a growing terror threat in recent months, in part connected to the fight against the Islamic State militant group in Syria and Iraq.

In September, the largest anti-terror raids in Australian history were carried out in Sydney and Brisbane after intelligence emerged that people were planning to carry out random attacks on Australian soil.

We will update this story as it develops.

Update 1:

We have reports of further buildings being evacuated. We are being cautious in our reporting so we will not go into any further detail but other buildings in the area have been evacuated throughout the morning.

The Sydney Opera House, which is about a kilometre and a half from Martin Place, has been evacuated. It is not clear why and there are conflicting reports about the reasons. (source)

Update 2:

• Heavily armed police have taken up position around the Lindt cafe in central Sydney
• Hostages have been seen inside the cafe with their hands in the air
• Black flag with white Arabic writing reading “There is no God but Allah” and “Mohammed is the messenger of God” waved behind the hostages
• Martin Place and Sydney Opera House have been evacuated
• National Security Committee of Cabinet has convened; Prime Minister Tony Abbott described incident as “deeply concerning” and offered NSW all assistance possible. (from ABC News)

Update 3, from The Guardian:

We are almost three hours into the siege and there is a lot of conflicting reports and speculation. Here is a brief rundown of what we actually do know:

• Customers and staff at Lindt Cafe in Martin Place, Sydney, were taken hostage about 9.45am. There are varying reports on the number of hostages but four have been sighted in camera footage. They were made to stand up against the windows with their hands raised.
• There is at least one gunman.
• A black flag with white writing was put in the window of the cafe. It is not an Islamic State flag. The flag appears to bear the Shahada, an Islamic creed which reads: “There is no god but the God, Muhammad is the messenger of God.” It’s can be a benign symbol and appears across the Islamic world, including on the Saudi Arabian flag. But it has also been embraced by jihadi groups such as Jabhat Al-Nusra, an Al-Qaeda affiliate currently fighting in Syria.
• The prime minister, Tony Abbott, confirmed the national security committee of cabinet has convened for briefings.
• Buildings in the area have been evacuated, as has the Sydney Opera House though it has not been confirmed why the Opera House has been evacuated.
• The prime minister will address media soon.

Update 4:

Earlier in the morning, police apparently arrested a man after a counterrorism raid in a Sydney suburb.

Update 5:

“So far we know that number of key buildings in Sydney are reported to have been evacuated. They include the nearby US consulate including the headquarters of the 7 Network, Sydney Opera House – where there were reports of a suspicious package – New South Wales State library and the New South Wales Supreme Court,” reports The Telegraph.

BREAKING:

The man who was holding people hostage is reportedly dead:

The siege of a downtown Sydney cafe where a a suspected Iranian-born Islamic extremist had been holding numerous hostages ended early Tuesday morning local time after police raided the building.

The suspect, who first took the cafe during Monday morning rush hour, was confirmed to be dead after the raid, sources tell CBS News.

It was not clear if the hostage taker, identified by police as local Muslim cleric Man Haron Monis, who had taken to calling himself “Sheikh Haron,” was killed by police or a self-inflicted gunshot wound.

Police confirm there have been multiple fatalities and injuries, but officials have not yet confirmed the number of fatalities among the hostages.