Hostage Situation at 'Lindt Cafe' in Sydney Ends with Police Assault

Reports indicate that Australian police launched an assault on the Lindt Cafe in Sydney early Tuesday morning, December 25, local time, after six hostages were freed, resulting in the deaths of three individuals, including the hostage-taker. According to Australian police, the deceased include a 50-year-old man (the hostage-taker), a 38-year-old woman, and a 34-year-old man. Australian media reported that four others were injured during the assault, which occurred at 2 AM. The New South Wales police commissioner told reporters that the police acted after gunfire erupted inside the cafe. News agencies reported that explosions could be heard from the cafe during the police operation. The hostage-taker had been barricaded there for over 16 hours. Police stated that the hostage situation had ended. The assault began after one man escaped alone and five others fled in a group from the cafe. Australian police sources identified the hostage-taker on Monday, December 24, as a 50-year-old Iranian refugee with a history of criminal offenses in Australia. According to Australian media, he is named 'Mohammad Hassan Manteqi' but refers to himself as 'Sheikh Haroon' and dresses in Shia clerical attire. Reports indicate that he had previously sent hateful letters to the families of several Australian soldiers killed in the Middle East seven years ago, drawing police attention since then. He was also accused last year of involvement in the murder of his ex-wife, the mother of two children, whose body was stabbed and burned. According to the Australian newspaper The Age, he has been accused of approximately 50 sexual assaults.