TOKYO (Sputnik) — Japan's Foreign Minister Fumio Kishida has received a special government plane that brought back the bodies of Friday's Dhaka attack victims, as well as their relatives who had traveled to Bangladesh on Saturday, the NHK public broadcaster reported.
"We once again experience deep sorrow and strong indignation at the terrible tragedy in which the precious lives of those who gave all their strength to international cooperation have been lost due to sinister terror," the minister said.
Japan will work with the international community to prevent the occurrence of similar tragedies, he added, vowing to ensure the safety of Japanese citizens abroad.
On Friday, Islamist militants took hostages inside a cafe located in the Bangladeshi capital's diplomatic quarter. The Bangladeshi army said that 20 people had been killed by the hostage takers before the Bangladeshi security forces began their operation to free hostages. Most of these were Japanese and Italian nationals. A total of 13 people were rescued, according to the country's prime minister.
A total of eight Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) employees working as economic consultants were caught up in the hostage situation, with just one of these surviving the attack.