Two people died, along with an Islamist gunman, after commandos stormed a cafe in Sydney, Australia, to bring to an end a 16-hour siege.
Local media have named those who died as Lindt cafe manager Tori Johnson, 34 and lawyer Katrina Dawson, 38.
Four people were injured, including a policeman hit by shotgun pellets.
Central Sydney was put in lockdown as the gunman, identified as an Iranian refugee, seized dozens of hostages early on Monday.
The Lindt Chocolat Cafe is located in Martin Place, a busy shopping area in Sydney’s financial district.
The gunman, named as Man Haron Monis, forced some of the hostages to hold up a black Islamic banner at the window of the cafe.
Monis received political asylum in Australia in 1996 and was on bail facing a number of charges.
Prime Minister Tony Abbott said the “horrific incident” at the cafe had been “tragic beyond words” and there were “lessons to be learned” from this “brush with terrorism”.
“These events do demonstrate that even a country as free, as open and as generous as ours is vulnerable to acts of politically motivated violence but they also demonstrate that… we are ready to respond,” he told reporters.
Flags are to fly at half-mast across New South Wales to honour the victims. BBC
