Dozens of people were held by at least two armed men inside the Lindt Café in Sydney’s central business district earlier today. Footage aired by the Australian television showed a black flag with white Arabic writings being held against a window of the place by terrified hostages. The flag belonged to the al-Qaeda-affiliated al-Nusra Front, one of the Takfiri terror groups operating against the government in Syria.
Later reports identified the gunman, who was killed after commandos stormed the cafe held under siege for 16 hours, as Haron Monis, 49,describes himself as a convert to Sunni Islam. In his statement he expresses "allegiance" to ISIL and its leader Abu Bakr Al-Baghdadi, calling the ISIL Caliph as his "Imam".
Also in his statement, the formerly Shiite Muslim underlines that he has converted to Sunni Islam, stressing that Shiites are blasphemous people.
He also underscores that the war in Iraq is not a sectarian strife, but a war between the Muslims (i.e. ISIL) and the hypocrites.
The self-styled cleric was described by his former lawyer as an isolated figure.
One of his demands was to have a flag of the ISIL, the Sunni-Takfiri militant group which recently seized territory in Syria and Iraq, to be delivered to the cafe to replace the Al-Nusra flag that he had taken to the cafe with himself.
The centre of the city was put in lockdown when the gunman seized the hostages early on Monday, forcing some of them to hold up the Al-Nusra banner at the window of the Lindt cafe.
The cafe is located in Martin Place, a busy shopping area in Sydney's financial district.
At least three people are reported dead, including Monis, after commandos stormed the cafe held under siege for 16 hours.
No one yet knows the underlying cause of the attack.
Reports in the local media suggest the commandos from the Royal Australian Regiment entered the building after the gunman started firing shots.
Shortly after 02:00 local time Tuesday (15:00 GMT Monday), several hostages fled from the building.
Minutes later, the commandos with assault rifles and wearing helmets and body armour could be seen piling into the cafe, tossing stun grenades ahead of them, and apparently opening fire.
Hostages ran to safety with their hands in the air. The dramatic scenes of the rescue operation were broadcast live on television.